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 information.

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 adaptation and resilience solutions in Pacific Island countries. The Australian government pledged $100 million to the Facility in 2023. However, far more is still needed and from a wider set of donors.   The Lowy Institute was delighted to host Finau Soqo, General Manager of the Pacific Resilience Facility, for a panel discussion on climate finance in the Pacific and Australia’s role. Ms Soqo was joined by His Excellency Samson Vilvil Fare, High Commissioner of the Republic of Vanuatu, one of the world’s worst affected countries by climate change, and Kristin Tilley, Australia’s Ambassador for Climate Change. The panel will be chaired by Dr Melanie Pill, Climate Change Research Fellow in the Lowy Institute’s Indo-Pacific Development Centre. The discussion was followed by an audience Q&A. ‍See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 columnist for the Australian Financial Review; Daniel Flitton, Managing Editor of the Lowy Institute’s international affairs magazine, The Interpreter; and Lydia Khalil, Director of the Institute’s Transnational Challenges Program. The event will be chaired by Sam Roggeveen, Director of our International Security Program.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Trump administration is taking an axe to the world’s biggest foreign aid program, dismantling its US Agency for International Development and freezing billions of dollars in foreign assistance. The Lowy Institute’s Lead Economist Roland Rajah is joined by Deputy Director of the Indo-Pacific Development Centre, Alexandre Dayant, and Research Associate, Grace Stanhope, to dive into what’s happening, the rationale, and the implications for American soft power and the rest of the world.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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, revealing the strategies that enabled its rise without triggering a major global backlash.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Trump administration’s recent dismantling of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and freeze on most US foreign aid has created havoc within the international aid and development sectors. Prior to these major announcements, the Lowy Institute’s Lead Economist Roland Rajah spoke with Masood Ahmed, President Emeritus of the Center for Global Development, in December last year. They discussed the effectiveness and future of aid and the factors reshaping international development cooperation including climate change, pandemic risks, migration, and domestic politics in donor countries.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dr Benjamin Herscovitch at ANU and the Lowy Institute’s Hervé Lemahieu discuss the growing global support for China’s efforts to bring Taiwan under its control, potentially via the use of force. As diplomatic stances on Taiwan become more contested and consequential, the Lowy Institute has published a world-first dataset detailing every UN member state’s position on the governments in Taipei and Beijing. The Data Snapshot offers an original framework for understanding the state of international diplomacy on Taiwan’s status: https://interactives.lowyinstitute.org/features/one-china-contest-to-define-taiwan/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

First Nations peoples were Australia’s original diplomats and traders. In recent years, the Australian government has sought to embed First Nations perspectives, experiences and interests into Australia’s foreign policy. Yet after the loss in the referendum to create a Voice to Parliament, there are questions about how to further these efforts. In this episode of Conversations, Lowy Institute First Nations Fellow Laura Salt speaks with Professor Megan Davis about the way forward for Australia’s First Nations foreign policy. Professor Davis is a constitutional law expert, international human rights lawyer, and one of the architects of the Uluru Statement from the Heart.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As part of the Lowy Institute Re-Cast series, we are republishing the best podcasts of 2024. In case you missed them the first time around or if you want revisit these engaging conversations, the Re-Cast series has you covered. In this episode of Pacific Change Makers, Research Fellow at the Lowy Institute’s Pacific Islands Program Dr Jess Collins speaks with Dame Annette King about her role as New Zealand’s High Commissioner to Australia. At the end of last year and with just a few weeks left in the role, Dame Annette sat down with Dr Collins in Canberra to reflect on her five-year term as High Commissioner to Australia — a post she considers one of New Zealand’s most important. As Dame Annette notes, “Australia and New Zealand — there are no two closer countries on the planet.” They discussed Dame Anette’s priorities for the Trans-Tasman arrangement, building the family-like relationship with Australia, the Australia–Tuvalu deal, New Zealand’s unique and strong relationship with the Pacific, and her country’s relationship with China amid growing tensions in the region. In a wide-ranging discussion, they also touched on the Lowy Institute Poll, the war in Ukraine, New Zealand movies, cheese pies, and sport. Dame Annette King commenced duties as the New Zealand High Commissioner to Australia in December 2018 and concluded her assignment in December 2023. Prior to taking up this position, she served as Deputy Leader of the New Zealand Labour Party and Deputy Leader of the Opposition from 2008 to 2011 and from 2014 until 2017. She was a Senior Cabinet Minister in the Fourth and Fifth Labour Governments of New Zealand and was the MP for the Rongotai electorate in Wellington from 1996 to 2017. Dame Annette is New Zealand’s longest-serving female MP, with 30 years in parliament. Her portfolios included Health, Police, Transport, Justice, Immigration, Employment and States Services. Pacific Change Makers is a podcast from the Lowy Institute: https://www.lowyinstitute.org/ Twitter:@LowyInstitute@DrJessCollins@annettecanberraSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As part of the Lowy Institute Re-Cast series, we are republishing the best podcasts of 2024. In case you missed them the first time around or if you want revisit these engaging conversations, the Re-Cast series has you covered. Hostage-taking and arbitrary detention by both state and non-state actors are on the rise. The Lowy Institute’s Sean Turnell, himself wrongfully imprisoned for two years in Myanmar, and Lydia Khalil discuss hostage diplomacy, its personal and global impacts and what can be done about it.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.