China’s remarkable economic rise has long been a key factor in global geopolitical discussions. But how soon and at what height will China’s economy peak? What are the implications for China’s ambitions in the world? For years, predictions suggested that China’s economic power would surpass that of the United States by the end of this decade. However, recent developments, backed by Lowy analysis, have challenged this assumption. In this event we unpacked the findings of original Lowy Institute r...
Jun 22, 2023•1 hr 6 min
Australia is home to 1.4 million people with Chinese ancestry. At a time of heightened concern about national security and foreign interference, how do Chinese-Australians see Australia and their place in it? How do Chinese-Australians consume news and information? And how do they view the wider world, including the growing geopolitical tensions in the region? On 2 May the panel unpacked the findings of the 2023 Being Chinese in Australia: Public Opinion in Chinese Communities survey report with...
May 03, 2023•58 min
Australia’s strategic outlook on the Indo-Pacific is changing rapidly, as reflected by the recent AUKUS announcement, forthcoming Defence Strategic Review and membership of new regional minilateral groupings such as the Quad. These changes will have important implications for Australia’s relations with neighbouring countries in Southeast Asia, and especially Indonesia, highlighted by Jakarta’s mixed response to the AUKUS announcement in 2021. How widespread are concerns about AUKUS and Australia...
May 01, 2023•1 hr 4 min
On 19 April, the Lowy Institute hosted the launch of the 2023 Being Chinese in Australia: Public Opinion in Chinese Communities survey report with author and Lowy Institute Research Fellow Dr Jennifer Hsu, along with guests Samuel Yang and Lucy Du. The event was chaired by the Director of the Institute's Public Opinion and Foreign Policy Program, Ryan Neelam. Dr Jennifer Hsu is a Research Fellow and the Project Director of the Multiculturalism, Identity and Influence Project at the Lowy Institut...
Apr 20, 2023•1 hr 2 min
With the announcement of Australia’s pathway towards nuclear-powered submarines, and the forthcoming release of the Government’s response to the Defence Strategic Review, this event offered the rare opportunity to hear from Australia’s most senior military officer about the international security environment and how Australia is responding to it. After his remarks, General Angus Campbell AO DSC spoke in conversation with the Lowy Institute's Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove AM. General Ca...
Apr 11, 2023•1 hr 1 min
The announcement of Australia’s preferred technology pathway for the acquisition of nuclear-powered submarines has been described as the most significant shift in the country’s strategic outlook since the Second World War. Coupled with the forthcoming publication of the Defence Strategic Review, Australia’s national security environment is set for significant change. What is the future of Australian defence policy, Australia’s place in the region, and its relations with the United States and the...
Mar 24, 2023•1 hr 1 min
The inaugural FDC Pacific Lecture was given by the Prime Minister of Samoa, Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa at Old Parliament House, Canberra on Monday 20 March 2023. The Hon Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa is Samoa’s seventh prime minister and the first woman to be elected to the role. She was also the country’s first female cabinet minister and deputy prime minister. As the leader of the Faʻatuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi (FAST) party, she became prime minister after elections in 2021. Prime Minister Fiamē was firs...
Mar 22, 2023•1 hr 16 min
On 14 March 2023, Australian foreign policy expert and former Lowy Institute Executive Director Professor Michael Wesley launched his new book Helpem Fren: Australia and the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (MUP 2023). The book is the first comprehensive history of Australia’s RAMSI intervention, which was aimed at preventing the collapse of the Pacific Island state. Helpem Fren draws on still-classified official documents and more than 30 interviews to explore the motivations and ...
Mar 17, 2023•1 hr 1 min
Entering the second year of the Russia–Ukraine conflict the Lowy Institute hosted a a conversation with two compelling speakers about what 2023 will bring. Retired Australian Army Major General Mick Ryan has become a globally recognised commentator on the military campaign in Ukraine, while Ukrainian-born journalist Zoya Sheftalovich ( POLITICO ) has recently returned from Europe, where she covered President Zelenskyy’s visits to London and Brussels. The conversation was chaired by Sam Roggeveen...
Mar 09, 2023•1 hr
Over the past decade, there has been more emphasis on gender in foreign policy and national security. What does this mean? Should foreign policy be a vehicle for the promotion of gender equality and how is that in Australia’s interest? How are women in foreign policy and national security leadership positions making an impact on the world stage? And are we witnessing a global backlash against women’s rights? To mark International Womens Day the Lowy Institute hosted this event featuring research...
Mar 08, 2023•1 hr 3 min
On Monday 6 February, the Lowy Institute hosted a panel discussion at the National Gallery of Victoria featuring Institute experts to discuss the key issues likely to dominate the international agenda in 2023. The panel was chaired by Daniel Flitton , Managing Editor of the Lowy Institute’s international magazine The Interpreter , and included Meg Keen , Director, Pacific Islands Program; Richard McGregor , Senior Fellow for East Asia; Sam Roggeveen , Director, International Security Program; an...
Feb 13, 2023•1 hr 6 min
The Asia Power Index 2023 is the fifth edition of the digital analytical tool that ranks 26 countries according to the power they wield in the Indo-Pacific Region. In this video event, Project Lead Susannah Patton and Director of Research Hervé Lemahieu discuss the findings from the 2023 Asia Power Index with Lowy Institute Executive Director Michael Fullilove. They discuss the rankings for the 2023 Index, the impact of Covid-19 on the influence of countries such as China, and the reasons why th...
Feb 08, 2023•42 min
In a special in-person conversation with Lowy Institute Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove, Bill Gates spoke about global health, pandemic preparedness, food security and climate change. Bill Gates is co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and founder of Breakthrough Energy. He co-founded Microsoft in 1975, growing the company into a global leader in business and personal software. In 2008, Gates shifted focus to the Gates Foundation’s work on increasing opportunities for the w...
Jan 23, 2023•1 hr
On 2 December 2022, the Lowy Institute hosted the Prime Minister of Finland, Sanna Marin , for an address titled “How a strong Europe can contribute to a more secure world”. In May 2022, Ms Marin’s government took the historic decision for Finland to apply for NATO membership. In this address, Marin spoke about Finland’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and Europe’s broader security priorities. After her address Ms Marin spoke in conversation with Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove...
Dec 02, 2022•54 min
In this event, 2022 Rothschild & Co Distinguished International Fellow Gideon Rachman reflected on 'The Age of the Strongman' - our new era of authoritarian leaders who have become a central feature of global politics in capitals as diverse as Moscow, Beijing, Delhi, Brasilia, Budapest, Ankara, Riyadh and Washington. The speech was followed by a Q&A session moderated by Lowy Institute Research Fellow Lydia Khalil , author of Rise of the Extreme Right: The New Global Extremism and the Thr...
Nov 25, 2022•1 hr
The 2022 Lowy Lecture was delivered by World Trade Organization Director-General Dr Ngozi Okonjo- Iweala at Sydney Town Hall on 22 November 2022. Dr Okonjo-Iweala's address was titled The Multilateral Trading System in a Changing World: De-globalization or Re-globalization? Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is the first woman and first African to hold the office of Director-General of the World Trade Organization. Dr Okonjo-Iweala is an economist and international development professional with more than 40...
Nov 22, 2022•58 min
The 2022 Lowy Institute Media Lecture was delivered by the Financial Times chief foreign affairs columnist Gideon Rachman, who reflected on the place of foreign news coverage in a fracturing media environment. Gideon Rachman became chief foreign affairs columnist for the Financial Times in July 2006. He joined the FT after a 15-year career at The Economist, which included assignments as a foreign correspondent in Brussels, Washington, DC, and Bangkok. He has also edited the business and Asia sec...
Nov 17, 2022•51 min
The 2022 Owen Harries Lecture was delivered by the Lowy Institute's 2022 Distinguished Fellow for International Security Sir Lawrence Freedman, one of the world’s most respected military strategists. Sir Lawrence's Harries Lecture, titled ‘Inhumane War?’, discussed Moscow's assumption that Kyiv can be forced to capitulate by attacks on its citizenry and infrastructure even when Russian forces have been pushed back in the land battle. The Lecture was followed by a Q&A session moderated by Low...
Nov 10, 2022•1 hr 8 min
The Chinese Communist Party will shortly hold its 20th National Congress during a highly unsettled period in international affairs. In February, after President Putin and President Xi declared a "friendship without limits", Russia launched its brutal invasion of Ukraine. In August, China responded to US Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei with major military exercises. Meanwhile, President Biden has become increasingly vocal in his support for Taiwan. Just days...
Oct 13, 2022•1 hr 2 min
At a time of significant geopolitical uncertainty, India is taking an ever more prominent role in world affairs. From its membership of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, to the influential part that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has played in talks with Russia's President at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit, India is asserting its voice on major international issues. Dr S. Jaishankar is India's leading diplomat. Before entering parliament, he was Foreign Secretary, and previously s...
Oct 11, 2022•59 min
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has become an international symbol of resistance as he leads his country’s response to Russia’s brutal invasion. From his defiant leadership on the streets of Kyiv in the early weeks of the attack to his eloquent advocacy on the global stage, President Zelenskyy has become an internationally admired figure at the heart of some of the most remarkable events in world affairs in recent decades. In this special address, President Zelenskyy spoke from Ukraine via...
Oct 06, 2022•40 min
On 2 September 2022, the Lowy Institute hosted a rare insight into the story of women in the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) from its Director-General, Rachel Noble. ASD is Australia’s foreign signals intelligence, cyber security, and offensive cyber operations agency. At this in-person event, the Director-General shared her experiences as a woman in a male dominated career and her thoughts on what leaders and managers can do to help to continue breaking down barriers for women. Following h...
Sep 05, 2022•1 hr 4 min
In 2021, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) said that right-wing extremism makes up 50 per cent of its priority caseload. Since that announcement, intelligence and law enforcement agencies have disrupted a number of plots related to right-wing extremists in Australia. But this is not only an issue in Australia. There has been a 250 per cent increase in right-wing terrorism globally. So, what exactly is right-wing extremism and how is its potential for violence growing? Why ...
Aug 31, 2022•57 min
With Australia's security focus now firmly on the Pacific, it is easy to dismiss Australia's twenty-year military involvement in the Middle East as an aberration, or simply as a legacy function of our alliance with the United States. Yet Australia's direct connections and interests in the Middle East are much greater now than they were before the country committed military forces to the region. Canberra has a greater diplomatic presence, a military base, deeper economic interests and more signif...
Aug 24, 2022•1 hr 6 min
Xi Jinping is one of the world’s most powerful leaders and will remain so for many more years if, as expected, he secures a third term as Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) at the forthcoming 20th National Congress of the CCP. Despite being in power for close to a decade, he is also a man that remains a mystery to much of the world. Dr Joseph Torigian , one of the premier scholars of the Chinese leader and elite politics, discusses Xi’s early years and rise to power and what that reve...
Aug 24, 2022•42 min
Xi Jinping is one of the world’s most powerful leaders and will remain so for many more years if, as expected, he secures a third term as Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) at the forthcoming 20th National Congress of the CCP. Despite being in power for close to a decade, he is also a man that remains a mystery to much of the world. Dr Joseph Torigian, one of the premier scholars of the Chinese leader and elite politics, discusses Xi’s early years and rise to power and what that revea...
Aug 15, 2022•42 min
Half of all Australians were born overseas or have a parent who was born overseas, and Australia is home to more than 250 ancestries and 350 languages. The new Labor government has invoked Australia’s multiculturalism as a part of our national identity in its recent engagement with the region. But what is the role of Australia’s multiculturalism in foreign policy? Are diversity and diasporas a source of soft power and engagement? Our panel examined how Australia’s multiculturalism can inform for...
Aug 10, 2022•1 hr 4 min
On 21 July 2022, the Lowy Institute hosted the launch of 'The Consul', written by Nonresident Fellow Ian Kemish. The book was launched by Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs Hon Tim Watts MP, with a conversation afterwards between Ian Kemish and Natasha Kassam, Director of the Institute's Public Opinion and Foreign Policy program. How have world events shaped the way we travel now and what does future travel look like? What should we expect of our government when we are overseas? Where does p...
Jul 25, 2022•46 min
On 7 July 2022, the Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern, Prime Minister of New Zealand, gave an address at the Lowy Institute in Sydney titled A Pacific Springboard to Engage the World: New Zealand's Independent Foreign Policy. Video of event available here - https://youtu.be/gK785x4jEDk See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jul 11, 2022•1 hr 3 min
The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue is becoming increasingly important to Indian, Japanese, Australian and American efforts to balance Chinese power and extend the rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific. Its strategic importance to Australia was underscored this May when Prime Minister Anthony Albanese made the Quad leaders’ meeting in Tokyo his first foreign engagement as Prime Minister. At this special event, the Lowy Institute’s Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove discussed the Quad’s evol...
Jun 19, 2022•1 hr 5 min
