In 2025 Malaysia hosts the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), putting it at the centre of regional geopolitics. Its prime minister Anwar Ibrahim has an ambitious agenda to steer the group through the challenges posed by rising geopolitical tension. How will Malaysia navigate a trade war and competition between the United States and China? And how will its identity as a diverse Muslim majority country and advocate for the global south shape its positions at a time of multiple crises ...
Aug 08, 2025•27 min
Listen to the highlights of a special invitation-only event to hear from The Rt Hon David Lammy MP, the UK’s Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs as he chats with Dr Michael Fullilove AM. The Foreign Secretary delivers an address on the evolving Australia-UK strategic relationship and global challenges followed by a Q&A. Watch the full length video here: https://youtube.com/live/SLKFANYC7YA?feature=share See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Jul 29, 2025•35 min
Listen to the highlights of this discussion recorded in Sydney on how Australians are grappling with seismic shifts in the global order. Drawing on the perspectives of Shadow Assistant Minister and former ambassador Dave Sharma, ABC senior journalist Isabella Higgins, Southeast Asia expert Susannah Patton, and Lowy Institute Poll author Ryan Neelam, this event explores how Australians view the country’s relations with the United States and China, their perceptions of threats, their thoughts on t...
Jul 22, 2025•33 min
Listen to this timely discussion about how Australians see the world and their place in it. Drawing on the experience of Assistant Minister Andrew Leigh, SBS Chief Political Correspondent Anna Henderson, ABC Foreign Affairs reporter Stephen Dziedzic, and Lowy Institute Poll author Ryan Neelam, this event, recorded on Tuesday 24 June 2025, explored Australians’ views on the fracturing of the rules-based international order, attitudes towards the superpowers, Donald Trump’s policies, defence and s...
Jul 01, 2025•1 hr
In August 2020, Cheng Lei, a Chinese-Australian journalist, had her life turned upside down. An anchor in Beijing for a business television program, Cheng Lei was arrested by officers of China’s Ministry of State Security on charges of espionage. Detained, isolated and interrogated, she was cut off from her family and friends for more than three years, until her release in late 2023. Cheng Lei is now telling her story in her new book, A Memoir of Freedom . On Tuesday 17 June 2025, the Lowy Insti...
Jun 19, 2025•1 hr
Dr John Hamre, president and CEO of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and former US Deputy Secretary of Defence, joins Dr Michael Fullilove AM, Executive Director of the Lowy Institute, to discuss President Trump’s record, his likely approach to the Western alliance, and Australia’s strategic outlook. Their conversation touches on news that the Trump administration will conduct a review of the AUKUS partnership, and previews the upcoming G7 Summit in Kananaskis, Canada, w...
Jun 18, 2025•1 hr
Andrew Hauser, Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia, delivered an address before the Lowy Institute on Thursday 22 May to discuss the Australia–China economic relationship in a time of great uncertainty. Following his address, Mr Hauser was joined by Lowy Institute China expert Richard McGregor and Nonresident Fellow Dr Jenny Gordon for a panel discussion moderated by Roland Rajah, the Institute's lead economist. The panel discussed the future of Australia–China economic ties amid sh...
May 26, 2025•1 hr
The United States has seen profound shifts in policy since the re-election of President Donald Trump. It’s clear that the themes of Trump 1.0 — his narrow definition of the US national interest, his scepticism of alliances, and his hostility to free trade — are also animating Trump 2.0. In a special event in the week that we mark the first 100 days of President Trump’s second term, hear insights from Susan Glasser, the Washington correspondent for The New Yorker and Lowy Institute Board member. ...
Apr 29, 2025•1 hr 5 min
The Lowy Institute was honoured to host His Excellency Surangel Whipps Jnr, President of the Republic of Palau, to deliver the 2025 FDC Pacific Leaders’ Address. Since taking office in 2021, President Whipps has been a champion of Pacific leadership on regional security, climate, marine conservation and trade and economic issues. He shares Palau’s perspective on the evolving strategic landscape in the Pacific, highlighting the impacts of recent geopolitical shifts and competition for regional in...
Apr 17, 2025•1 hr 5 min
Amid a US retreat from the Pacific under President Donald Trump, and intense competition for regional influence between Australia and China, the Pacific faces mounting pressures from climate change, transnational crime, internal instability, and at times even political upheaval. Listen to an insightful panel discussion with the ABC’s in-country Pacific journalists working on the frontlines of the rapidly changing political and security landscape in our near region. Hosted by: Mihai Sora, Directo...
Apr 08, 2025•1 hr 15 min
Lieutenant General Simon Stuart, the Chief of Army, delivered a special address before the Lowy Institute on Thursday 3 April 2025. He spoke about the state of the Army profession and proposed key actions to strengthen the institution. This is the third in a series of significant speeches from the Chief of Army. The first laid the theoretical foundations for the Army profession, while the second examined the historical, cultural and institutional challenges faced by the Army. Following the addre...
Apr 03, 2025•1 hr 5 min
Hear from former senior NATO figure and arms control negotiator Rose Gottemoeller on the prospects for peace in Europe’s bloodiest conflict since the Second World War. Donald Trump arrived as US president promising a swift end to the war in Ukraine. But can the war end in a way that will be fair to Ukrainians, and which closes off opportunities for further Russian aggression? Rose Gottemoeller will address these complex questions and analyse the unfolding peace process. Rose Gottemoeller is the ...
Apr 02, 2025•1 hr 6 min
Former senior NATO figure and arms control negotiator Rose Gottemoeller delivered the 2025 Owen Harries Lecture on Monday 24 March in Sydney. She reflected on a new era of nuclear weapons competition. China is rapidly growing and modernising its nuclear arsenal while Russia has used nuclear sabre-rattling in its war in Ukraine. Rose Gottemoeller explores the advent of an unprecedented situation — three nuclear peers — and the implications for the United States and its allies. She will also discu...
Mar 25, 2025•1 hr 1 min
Hear Lowy Institute and Carnegie Endowment experts discuss the most pressing topic in Australian foreign policy: the future of the alliance with United States. The AUKUS agreement of September 2021 raised the US-Australia alliance to unprecedented levels of cooperation and alignment. But the first two months of the Trump Administration – particularly its Ukraine policy and relations with its neighbour and ally Canada – have raised fundamental questions about the future of American foreign policy...
Mar 18, 2025•1 hr 3 min
President Donald Trump's trade policies, particularly tariffs on steel and aluminium, have sparked retaliatory actions from long-standing allies and raised serious questions about the future of America's working relationships with the rest of the world. In December, the Lowy Institute hosted a panel discussion about the impact of Donald Trump presidency in Asia — from US security and trade ties with Indo-Pacific, and the outlook for US-China tensions and key regional flashpoints, including Taiwa...
Mar 13, 2025•1 hr 3 min
In the second of our events analysing the foreign policy issues likely to dominate the international agenda in 2025, our panel discusses the first few months of the second Trump administration, the developments in Europe, Asia and the imminent Australian federal election. The panel was chaired by Dr Jessica Collins and featured Hervé Lemahieu, Director of Research, with Richard McGregor, Senior Fellow for East Asia; Susannah Patton, Director of the Southeast Asia Program and Project Lead for the...
Mar 06, 2025•1 hr 3 min
The Pacific is one of the most climate-vulnerable regions in the world, facing frequent and severe extreme weather events and rising sea levels. Adaptation and resilience-building are vital to helping Pacific communities cope, but financial assistance is insufficient and difficult to access. Pacific leaders have responded to this gap with the creation of the Pacific Resilience Facility (PRF). The PRF is the first Pacific-led, owned and managed fund dedicated to financing community-centred adapta...
Feb 18, 2025•1 hr 4 min
On Monday 10 February, the Lowy Institute hosted a panel event at State Library Victoria to discuss the key issues likely to dominate the international agenda in 2025. The Trump administration kicks off 2025 with a mandate for political and economic change. An Australian federal election looms. Russia’s war in Ukraine, an uneasy Middle East, and America’s contest with China will continue to dominate international headlines. Our expert panel included Jennifer Hewett , National Affairs columni...
Feb 14, 2025•1 hr 3 min
Darshana M. Baruah and Oriana Skylar Mastro launch their new books, The Contest for the Indian Ocean and Upstart: How China became a Great Power . The Contest for the Indian Ocean , Baruah explores how the Indian Ocean has become a central stage for geopolitical competition, highlighting its strategic importance and the ambitions of global powers vying for influence in the region. Meanwhile, in Upstart , Mastro offers a compelling analysis of China's unconventional path to great power status, re...
Feb 06, 2025•1 hr 3 min
The inaugural Lowy Interview, featuring US President Joe Biden’s National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan. During all the moments that have defined US foreign policy over the past four years — from Afghanistan to Ukraine, from meetings of the Quad to the formation of AUKUS, from October 7 to the fall of Bashar al-Assad — Jake Sullivan has been at President Biden’s elbow. In an extended interview at the White House in Washington, DC, the Lowy Institute’s Executive Director, Dr Michael Fullilove AM...
Dec 18, 2024•27 min
Lowy Institute experts and guests examined the implications for Asia of Donald Trump’s re-election as US President. Our panellists examined the consequences of his re-election for US security and trade ties with Indo-Pacific, and the outlook for US-China tensions and key regional flashpoints, including Taiwan and the South China Sea. Lydia Khalil convened this conversation with colleagues Daniel Flitton, Managing Editor of the Interpreter and Susannah Patton, Director of the Southeast Asia Progr...
Dec 13, 2024•1 hr 3 min
On Monday 18 November 2024, we hosted Australian and American scholars at the Lowy Institute to assess the aftermath of the tense, high-stakes US election. Our panellists discussed the outcome of the poll and the implications for Australia and the region, including trade, national security, and China and Asia policy. Richard McGregor led the conversation with the Australian Financial Review ’s International Editor James Curran, and visiting scholars Charles Edel and Kathryn Paik from the Center ...
Dec 03, 2024•1 hr 2 min
The 2024 Lowy Lecture was delivered by the President of the Czech Republic, Petr Pavel. The Lowy Lecture was held on Tuesday 26 November 2024 at the Sydney Town Hall. President Petr Pavel is one of Europe’s most influential, interesting and articulate leaders. He has been a vocal supporter of Ukraine in its war against Russia, leading calls for a strong and united response by Western nations to Russia’s aggression. He believes that - facing the current challenges - democracies across the world ...
Nov 28, 2024•56 min
On Tuesday 12 November our Lowy Institute experts and senior investment leaders discussed key geopolitical risks and trends, and the impacts on financial markets and investment portfolios. Rising geopolitical tensions are testing the resilience of global businesses and challenging existing growth strategies. Conflict in Europe and the Middle East and escalating US–China competition have the attention of business leaders. Moreover, 2024 is the year of national elections, with more than 60 count...
Nov 21, 2024•1 hr 3 min
A wide-ranging conversation with The Economist’s defence editor, Shashank Joshi, which will cover the Ukraine war, the Middle East, China’s nuclear ambitions, tensions between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea, the implications of the US presidential election for international security, and much more, including questions from the audience. Shashank Joshi is The Economist’s defence editor. Previously, he served as Senior Research Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute and Re...
Nov 13, 2024•1 hr 1 min
On the eve of the US election, Lowy Institute experts review the culmination of a tumultuous 2024 presidential election season. Michael Fullilove, Ryan Neelam, Richard McGregor and Susannah Patton examine the beliefs and policies that animate both presidential contenders – Kalama Harris and Donald Trump – and their teams of advisors. They also discuss the consequences of this election for Asia and the world.v See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Nov 05, 2024•1 hr 4 min
Democracies around the world are being challenged by socio-economic pressures, rising inequalities, and rapid technological developments, as well as growing polarisation and diminishing trust in institutions. Safeguarding democracy by addressing these challenges has become a national priority, but it also has clear geopolitical implications for Australia and its democratic allies. With non-democratic powers such as China and Russia acting to blunt the influence of the international rules-based o...
Oct 31, 2024•1 hr 1 min
With China’s military capability increasing but US military primacy still holding firm for now, bi-polarity may be the name of the game in the Asia Pacific. But will this bipolarity hold and how are other regional countries positioned? Richard McGregor hosts Professor Hugh White, Emeritus Professor of Strategic Studies at the Australian National University (ANU) and Lowy Institute experts, Project Lead for the Asia Power Index (API) Susannah Patton and Research Director Herve Lemahieu to examine...
Oct 29, 2024•56 min
In Asia, a battle of narratives rages. Many believe China is already an unassailably dominant force, while US primacists see it as ultimately containable. In either case, bipolarity is the order of the day. However, countries such as Australia and Japan tout the emergence of a multipolar Indo-Pacific. What do the findings of the Lowy Institute’s Asia Power Index say about these prevailing narratives? And what role can third countries play in Asia’s power politics and in its regional order? Dr Mi...
Oct 22, 2024•1 hr 3 min
Sean Turnell's new Lowy Institute Paper, Best Laid Plans, was officially launched by Australia's Foreign Minister Penny Wong at an event at the National Press Club in Canberra, on Monday 14 October 2024. The new book offers 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 democracy, were brought to a dram...
Oct 16, 2024•1 hr 1 min
