The Institute’s Director of Research Hervé Lemahieu and Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove discuss the US and Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, Iran’s response, and the uncertainty of a reported ceasefire. They analyse the strategic stakes, the role of diplomacy and international institutions, and the risks and advantages of President Donald Trump’s unpredictability. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jun 24, 2025•21 min
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
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto campaigned on a promise of continuity and better economic performance. Is Prabowo living up to his campaign promises or taking the country in a new direction? The Lowy Institute's Lead Economist, Roland Rajah, speaks with Dr Eve Warburton, Director of the Australian National University's Indonesia Institute, and Indo-Pacific Development Centre Research Fellows Dr Hilman Palaon and Robert Walker to unpack what’s happening and the looming questions over policy...
Jun 10, 2025•30 min
Earlier this year, reports emerged of Russia seeking to base military aircraft at Indonesia’s Manuhua Airforce Base. While the request was rejected by Indonesia, it raises a broader question: what are Russia’s interests in Southeast Asia and how should Australia respond to its attempts to seek access to military facilities in the region? In this podcast, Lowy Institute Research Fellow Rahman Yaacob and Ian Storey , Senior Fellow at the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute , talk with host Sam Roggeveen...
Jun 04, 2025•27 min
Join Sam Roggeveen and Managing Editor Daniel Flitton for a conversation about what we covered this week in Australia’s best foreign affairs magazine, The Interpreter . Further reading: Sadly, Russia’s mercenary verdict means Oscar Jenkins won’t be coming home anytime soon by Donald Rothwell Why Oscar Jenkins’ trial in the Luhansk People’s Republic is a sham by Shannon Bosch US troops in Korea may soon switch focus from Pyongyang to Beijing by Gabriela Bernal The CPTPP dilemma: Economic merit ve...
May 30, 2025•23 min
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
In this episode, we bring you highlights of a recent Lowy Institute event on the future of warfare. Christian Brose, President and Chief Strategy Officer of Anduril Industries, and Sam Roggeveen, Director of the Lowy Institute’s International Security Program discuss the key trends in modern warfare revealed through the world’s ongoing armed conflicts. They share their thoughts on how any future wars between major powers are likely to be fought. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informatio...
May 23, 2025•34 min
The Lowy Institute Re-Cast series republishes the best podcasts from our archives. In case you missed them the first time around or if you want revisit these engaging conversations, the Re-Cast series has you covered. Can we measure national success beyond economic growth? In August 2024, Professor Robert Costanza spoke 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 complementa...
May 13, 2025•31 min
Anthony Albanese has been returned as Australia’s prime minister in a landslide. In this episode, Program Directors Mihai Sora and Susannah Patton speak with host Lydia Khalil about what that means for the region. They discuss how Albanese’s re-election is being received in the Pacific and Southeast Asia and examine the continuities, opportunities and challenges for Australia’s foreign policy over the government’s second term. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
May 09, 2025•27 min
In this episode, host Lydia Khalil speaks with former US Ambassador and Director-General of ASIO Dennis Richardson and Interpreter Managing Editor Daniel Flitton , about the Five Eyes — the powerful and strategically important intelligence sharing alliance. Its member countries, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, have sustained and protected one of the world's most unified multilateral arrangements for more than 75 years. But even the Five Eyes may not avoi...
May 01, 2025•27 min
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
With US President Donald Trump unleashing a blitz of policy changes in his first few months in office and an Australian federal election just ahead, the Lowy Institute has released selected results from the 2025 Lowy Institute Poll . The findings provide a snapshot of how Trump is changing Australian attitudes towards the United States, and on Australians’ confidence in their political leaders’ foreign policy abilities. Ryan Neelam, Director of Public Opinion and Foreign Policy, talks with host ...
Apr 24, 2025•22 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
Two weeks ago, Myanmar was struck by a 7.7 magnitude earthquake that devastated much of the central heartland of the country. Already ravaged by civil war, the destruction and humanitarian crisis caused by the earthquake have brought the country to the brink. The Lowy Institute’s Hervé Lemahieu talks with Vicky Bowman CMG, the Director of the Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business — and previously UK Ambassador to Myanmar and a political prisoner under its junta — to discuss the earthquake’s hu...
Apr 14, 2025•28 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
Since his election, foreign policy coverage has been dominated by US President Donald Trump. But there is a lot more going on in the world than Trump 2.0. Many important global developments are not getting the attention they deserve. The Lowy Institute’s Lydia Khalil and Daniel Flitton, Managing Editor of The Interpreter, highlight the stories you might have missed. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mar 27, 2025•18 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
Donald Trump has moved quickly to impose tariffs on literally every country in the world. Trump’s tariffs against Australia are not only affecting matters of trade; they potentially infringe Australian sovereignty. The Lowy Institute’s Lead Economist Roland Rajah sits down with Dr Jenny Gordon, Lowy Institute Nonresident Fellow and Honorary Professor at the Australian National University, to discuss the economics and peculiar logic behind Trump’s tariff plans, what it means for smaller countries...
Mar 20, 2025•25 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
Defence analyst Marcus Hellyer talks with the Lowy Institute’s Sam Roggeveen about the unprecedented appearance of Chinese warships off Australia’s east coast. What message was Beijing sending? How well did Australia’s defence force perform in response? And what are Australia‘s future options with the United States in retrenchment? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mar 11, 2025•27 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
Cathy Neap, Country Manager for the National Rugby League in Papua New Guinea, speaks with Dr Jessica Collins, Project Director of the Australia–Papua New Guinea Network. Cathy shares her experience as a change maker — what drives her, the challenges she faced, and how she views the Australia–PNG relationship. Reflecting on PNG’s half-century of independence this year, Cathy also shares her vision of what the next 50 years might look like in terms of development and women. See omnystudio.com/lis...
Mar 04, 2025•15 min
After attending this month's Munich Security Conference, the Institute's Hervé Lemahieu speaks with Lydia Khalil about the Trump administration’s diplomatic cavalry charge on Europe, and lessons for Australia. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Feb 27, 2025•26 min
Retired Australian Army General Mick Ryan is one of the most influential and prolific analysts of the Ukraine war. This conversation with Sam Roggeveen, Director of the International Security Program, was intended as a reflection on the three-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion, but instead becomes a much broader and deeper conversation about the sensational diplomatic events of the last few weeks, and about America’s role in the world under Trump. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy infor...
Feb 21, 2025•25 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
