On Tuesday 10 September we had a conversation with the President of the World Bank Group, Ajay Banga, on key global economic challenges, what this means for Australia and the Asia-Pacific, and how the World Bank, governments, private sector, and civil society can work together to make the investments needed to end poverty and boost shared prosperit…

Stephen Dziedzic of the ABC recently reported from the Pacific Islands Forum leaders retreat in Tonga. He joins Darren to unpack a very interesting meeting, focusing in particular on the Pacific Policing Initiative (and PM Albanese’s discussions with US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, unintentionally recorded on camera) and a reference to …

On Tuesday 3 September 2024 we had a conversation with Sean Turnell about his latest book, Best Laid Plans, a unique first-hand account of the radical reforms implemented in Myanmar under the ill-fated civilian government of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. These reforms, designed both to turn around Myanmar’s dire economy and lay the economic foundations for…

From deals on policing in Solomon Islands to building parliamentary complexes in Vanuatu, China’s outreach and activities in the Pacific Islands region appear indefatigable. In the words of Foreign Minister Penny Wong, Canberra and its partners are locked in a "state of permanent contest" with Beijing over influence in the region. Previously underv…

One year ago, the Albanese Labor government launched the “New International Development Policy”. Darren invites back Bridi Rice, CEO of the Canberra-based Development Intelligence Lab, to assess where the policy stands 12 months in. They review the initial logic of the policy and discuss the role of Development Partnership Plans, the first two (for…

Australian eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant leads the world’s first government regulatory agency committed to keeping its citizens safer online. While her appointment is domestic, the internet is global. In this episode of Conversations, the Lowy Institute’s Lydia Khalil talks with Inman Grant about what she learned from her previous experien…

Eminent military historian and strategist Sir Lawrence Freedman talks with the Lowy Institute’s Sam Roggeveen about whether there is a plausible path towards peace or a ceasefire, the implications of a Trump Administration on support for Ukraine’s war effort, whether Russia’s attacks on Ukrainian civilian targets are working, and innovations on the…

Thursday 15 August 2024 The Lowy Institute was delighted to host the Rt Hon Christopher Luxon, Prime Minister of New Zealand, for a special foreign policy address on Thursday 15 August. Rt Hon Christopher Luxon is the 42nd Prime Minister of New Zealand. Since coming to power in October 2023, Prime Minister Luxon has focused closely on issues of for…

Defence expert Ross Babbage talks with the Lowy Institute’s Sam Roggeveen about his new research paper, Deterrence and Alliance Power: Why the AUKUS Submarines Matter and how they can be Delivered. They discuss not just the viability of the project – can US and UK shipyards deliver? – but its justifications. Why does Australia need these submarines…

Can we measure national success beyond economic growth? Professor Robert Costanza speaks with the Lowy Institute’s Alexandre Dayant about why countries need to move away from gross domestic product as the measure of economic prosperity and factor in other complementary gauges of success. In a time of high inflation, increased cost of living, and gr…

As the United States approaches a pivotal presidential election, how do Australians view our security ally? After two years of official re-engagement, have Australians’ perceptions of China changed? What should the government do about climate change, and how do Australians feel about renewable and nuclear energy? Now in its 20th edition, the Lowy I…

In the final episode of our series on the South China Sea, host Susannah Patton and Lowy Institute colleague Richard McGregor debate the implications of the recent tensions at Second Thomas Shoal for Beijing’s strategy, the credibility of US alliances, and the considerations of other regional countries such as Australia. See omnystudio.com/listener…

What do the maritime security challenges close to Australia mean for the country's future? We were joined in discussion with Rebecca Strating and Joanne Wallis on their new book Girt by Sea: Reimagining Australia's Security, which looks at six maritime domains central to the country's national interests and offers an alternative vision for how Aust…

It is impossible to look away from US politics at the moment, and so Darren cannot help but keep his focus on the presidential election. Yet beyond the horse race are larger questions about the health of democracy in the US and indeed around the world, given the pressures democratic systems everywhere are facing. Trump’s unconventional (to say the …

In part three of our South China Sea series, Dr Michael Mazarr speaks with the Lowy Institute’s Susannah Patton about the US’ strategy in the South China Sea. The United States has few easy options for countering China’s coercion of its ally the Philippines. Dr Mazarr of the RAND Corporation argues that the United States needs to plan for a scenari…

Weeks prior to the assassination attempt against Donald Trump, the Lowy Institute hosted global terrorism expert Professor Bruce Hoffman for a podcast with Program Director Lydia Khalil. They spoke about the future prospects of political violence in the United States and discussed Hoffman’s latest book, God, Guns, and Sedition, which traces the tra…

Just in case you needed one more 'emergency' politics podcast in the wake of the news that President Biden will not contest the US presidential election, and that it appears overwhelmingly likely that Vice President Harris will be nominated by the Democratic Party, Darren is joined by the ABC's Stephen Dziedzic to give their reactions, both persona…

In this special episode of Conversations, the Lowy Institute’s Dr Michael Fullilove and Hervé Lemahieu discuss US President Joe Biden’s momentous decision overnight to withdraw from his bid for a second term. In the past three weeks, US politics has been reshaped before our eyes. A resurgent former president Donald Trump, emerging from an attempt o…

In part two of our South China Sea series, Dr Oriana Skylar Mastro speaks with the Lowy Institute’s Susannah Patton about China’s objectives in the region. Beijing is pursuing an aggressive strategy to push out the United States and prevent Southeast Asian claimant states, especially the Philippines, from exercising their sovereign rights. Dr Mastr…

In this episode, Debra Sungi of PNG’s Climate Change and Development Authority speaks with the Lowy Institute’s Oliver Nobetau. Discussions around development in the Pacific consistently reference climate change as a major challenge. Countries such as PNG have to manage the support offered by international development partners without being overwhe…

The Lowy Institute’s Sam Roggeveen spoke with Sweden’s defence minister, Pål Jonson, during his recent visit to Australia. Prior to his ministerial career, Jonson worked in Sweden’s Defence Research Agency, and his depth of knowledge about not just European security but also Asia comes through in this interview. Roggeveen asks Jonson why Swedes sho…

Tensions between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea have reached their highest level in more than a decade. The risk of escalation, even conflict, between the two countries could test the credibility of the Philippines’ alliance with the United States. In the first of a series focused on the South China Sea tensions, Susannah Patton, …

Since the Albanese government was elected, Australia has focused on stabilising relations with China. But there are limits to Australia’s ability to successfully pursue stabilisation if there remains a spectre of confrontation between its largest trading partner and its key security guarantor, the United States. Do either the US or China genuinely …

China’s Premier Li Qiang successfully visited Australia last month. The loan of two more pandas captured headlines, but if one looks closely at how the visit unfolded it’s clear Australia faces a very complex strategic landscape. The Albanese government clearly wants to maintain a stabilised relationship with China under the PM’s manta “cooperative…

On Tuesday 25 June 2024 we held an event at the National Press Club for the launch of a new Lowy Institute Analysis paper that makes the strategic case for AUKUS, written by one of the government’s most knowledgeable and experienced defence thinkers. Luke Gosling argued that nuclear-powered submarines will be central to Australia’s ability to defea…

Papua New Guinea is a nation undergoing rapid digital transformation. With increased connectivity, PNG faces the dual challenge of leveraging digital growth for development while protecting its young netizens. Initiatives such as ChildFund’s 1-Tok Helpline, which has received more than 70,000 calls since its establishment in 2015, provide a window …

Mike Pezzullo recently said that “the likelihood of conflict in this decade has been about 10 per cent, which is meaningful enough to plan for and indeed to be concerned about”. If Pezzullo’s assessment is correct, that means there is a 90 per cent chance that conflict will not happen. What is Australia’s plan for that (likely) scenario? This episo…

On Friday 14 June 2024 we had our inaugural lecture in honour of Allan Gyngell, the first Executive Director of the Lowy Institute and one of Australia’s most respected foreign policy thinkers. Allan’s friend and contemporary, Ric Smith, delivered the Lecture on the subject of statecraft — a notion dear to Allan, and one that reaches beyond routine…

Angus Deaton, the 2015 Nobel Prize-winning economist, has dedicated four decades to studying poverty, inequality, health, wellbeing, and economic development. Recently, he strongly criticised his own profession, arguing that economists have overlooked the power dynamics inherent in capitalism. In this wide-ranging episode of Development Futures, Al…

Joining Darren this episode is Jude Blanchette. Jude holds the Freeman Chair in China Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). There’s no-one whose analysis and commentary Darren values more highly in helping him understand China. The context for this discussion is the fact that this weekend China’s Premier Li Qiang wil…

In this episode of The Director's Chair, the Lowy Institute's Executive Director Michael Fullilove is joined by The New York Times columnist Bret Stephens. They discuss the forthcoming US election and why he thinks Donald Trump is likely to return to the White House. They also talk about the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, AUKUS, cancel c…

Two guests join Darren this week: Professor Joanne Wallis from the University of Adelaide and Professor Bec Strating from La Trobe University. They have recently published a book titled Girt by Sea: Reimagining Australia’s Security, published by Blank Inc. Their project is an ambitious one—to question the very foundations of what it means for Austr…

Myanmar’s civil war has entered a crucial phase. While the junta remains firmly ensconced in the centre, a series of stunning victories by its opponents has severely diminished the reach of the military regime into the borderlands. A constellation of anti-junta forces has started delivering public services in “liberated areas” where they are in eff…

In the new episode of The Director’s Chair, the Lowy Institute’s Executive Director Michael Fullilove is joined by US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell. They discuss Kurt Campbell’s new role in the State Department, American policy towards China, the relationship between Moscow and Beijing, Xi Jinping’s recent visit to France, Dr Campbell’s a…

Recent events in economic security (or, geoeconomics) have been dizzying, but exciting for Darren given this is his primary academic field. In Australia, the new budget delivered by the government plans over $20b of industry policy funding for a “Future Made in Australia”. Meanwhile in the US, the Biden Administration has sharply increased tariffs …

China is facing many economic problems, at home and abroad. The two are connected. Weak demand at home has contributed to a sharp rise in Chinese manufacturing exports, especially in green technologies such as electric vehicles. Surging Chinese exports have in turn prompted a backlash from the United States, Europe, and others who accuse China of e…

Zack Cooper of the American Enterprise Institute joins Darren to discuss the troubling trend of PRC military actions that are endangering Australian personnel and equipment, and those of our partners. Last week, a Chinese fighter aircraft dropped flares into the path of an Australian helicopter that was conducting a patrol in international waters a…

In this episode, Michel Barnier, Europe’s former point man on Brexit negotiations, speaks with Hervé Lemahieu. Four years on, what lessons should the West draw from Brexit? How united is Europe in the face of populism at home and with new challenges on its doorstep, including the war in Ukraine? And are China and Russia two faces of the same threat…

In this episode of The Director’s Chair, the Lowy Institute’s Executive Director Michael Fullilove is joined by UK Shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy. They discuss David Lammy’s journey from cathedral chorister to the House of Commons, what kind of prime minister Keir Starmer would make, foreign policy under a Labour government, the UK’s relation…

Stephen Dziedzic of the ABC once again joins Darren to discuss a busy month of news, starting with the recent election in Solomon Islands, then a bombshell Washington Post story about the alleged involvement of the Indian government in targeted killings (with a strong Australian angle); next the recent 2+2 bilateral with South Korea and the possibi…