Lowy Institute

On Wednesday 8 July, Lowy Institute Research Director Alex Oliver chaired a discussion on Australians' changing attitudes to the world and international relations. In this discussion, Peter Hartcher, Lowy Institute Nonresident Fellow and International Editor of The Sydney Morning Herald, and Natasha Kassam, Research Fellow and author of the 2020 Lowy Institute Poll, examine important shifts in Australian public opinion. Topics covered include Australians' views of the United States, China and their respective leaders, and policy issues such as climate change, global cooperation, and foreign aid.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with Brookings Institution scholar, and former Russia adviser to President Donald Trump, Dr Fiona Hill. Fiona is one of the world’s leading Russia experts. She has worked in the US government under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, and then served for two years in the Trump Administration. At the end of 2019, Fiona became world-famous following her testimony in the impeachment hearings into Donald Trump’s presidency. Michael and Fiona reflect on Fiona's journey from County Durham in northern England to the corridors of the White House in Washington DC, and discuss the British class system, the US foreign policy establishment, American partisan politics, US-Russia relations, and Donald Trump's relationship with Vladimir Putin.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On Tuesday 30 June, Executive Director of the Lowy Institute Dr Michael Fullilove hosted a conversation with Zanny Minton Beddoes, Editor-in-Chief of The Economist.They addressed a range of questions, including – What have we learned from the pandemic about the state of globalisation? Has the US-China rivalry now become a fully-fledged cold war? Is America too wounded to be the “leader of the free world”?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of COVIDcast, Roland Rajah, Lowy Institute lead economist, sat down with Pascal Lamy to discuss the future of globalisation. Lamy has served at the peak of global trade and economic governance. He was the Director-General of the World Trade Organization for eight years, from 2005 to 2013, before which he was the Trade Commissioner for the European Union from 1999 to 2004. Currently he is President emeritus of the Jacques Delors Institute, a policy think tank in Paris.COVIDcast is a Lowy Institute pop-up podcast for anyone interested in understanding the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on global politics. In each episode, Lowy Institute experts and invited guests discuss the implications of this crisis for the world.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of COVIDcast, Sam Roggeveen, Lowy Institute’s Director of the International Security Program, sat down with Professor Hugh White to discuss the connection between the pandemic and the changing balance of power in Asia. Hugh White is an Emeritus Professor of Strategic Studies at the Australian National University.COVIDcast is a Lowy Institute pop-up podcast for anyone interested in understanding the effect of coronavirus on global politics. In each episode, Lowy Institute experts and invited guests discuss the implications of coronavirus for the world.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with diplomat, foreign policy intellectual and now Chancellor of the University of Queensland, Peter Varghese. Peter had a distinguished career in the Australian public service over nearly four decades, representing our country abroad, running the foreign ministry and our key intelligence assessments agency and advising a prime minister. He is a rare beast: in addition to being a highly effective bureaucrat, Peter is an original thinker and an elegant writer. Peter and Michael speak about the history and reality of race relations in Australia and growing up in the suburbs of Brisbane in the 1960s; Peter's time spent working with John Howard and the controversial foreign policy decision to participate in the US-led invasion of Iraq; his time as High Commissioner in New Delhi and his thoughts on the Australia-India bilateral relationship; the future of Australia's relationship with China; and American politics.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of COVIDcast, Natasha Kassam, Research Fellow at the Lowy Institute, sat down with Taiwan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr Joseph Wu. Dr Wu was appointed Foreign Minister by President Tsai Ing-wen on 26 February 2018. He was previously the head of the National Security Council, and the Chief Representative in the United States as the head of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Washington DC.COVIDcast is a Lowy Institute pop-up podcast for anyone interested in understanding the effect of coronavirus on global politics. In each episode, Lowy Institute experts and invited guests discuss the implications of coronavirus for the world.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with former diplomat, traveller, author and politician, Rory Stewart, a man whose life so far has been both conventional and highly unconventional. Born in Hong Kong, Rory spent his childhood in Malaysia and Scotland, and passed through a number of establishment institutions including Eton, Balliol, the Black Watch, the Foreign Office and, according to speculation, the Secret Intelligence Service. He was a summer tutor to Princes William and Harry. And yet he has also repeatedly gone off-piste and done interesting and sometimes remarkable things, including walking 10,000km across Asia, and running as an independent candidate for mayor of London. Rory and Michael speak about Rory's prescient response to the Covid-19 crisis, the disappointment of political life, the hollowing of the centre ground in British politics, and the Black Lives Matter movement.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On Thursday 11 June, Lowy Institute Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove hosted an in conversation online event with Kurt Campbell and Michèle Flournoy. They discussed the US presidential election, Washington’s relations with Beijing, the global implications of the coronavirus pandemic, and the unrest on America's streets.Kurt Campbell served as the Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs in the Obama administration, where he is widely credited as a key architect of the “pivot to Asia.” He is CEO of The Asia Group, and serves as Chairman of the Board of the Center for a New American Security.Michèle Flournoy served as the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy in the Obama administration from 2009 to 2012. She is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of WestExec Advisors and Co-Founder and former CEO of the Center for a New American Security, where she serves on the board.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lowy Institute Research Fellow Ben Bland led a discussion on the future of Hong Kong with three people who have been at the heart of recent events: pro-democracy lawmaker Dennis Kwok, human rights activist Bonnie Leung and Financial Times correspondent Sue-Lin Wong. China’s decision to unilaterally implement national security legislation in Hong Kong has dealt a heavy blow to the city’s freedoms and autonomy. This latest move comes after years of intensifying pressure from Beijing, which has struck at the foundations of Hong Kong’s success as a global financial centre: individual liberties and the rule of law. With thousands of democracy activists already arrested in the last year and Beijing’s interventions becoming ever more intrusive, is this the end of Hong Kong as we know it? PANEL Dennis Kwok is a practicing barrister and a pro-democracy member of Hong Kong’s Legislative Council, representing the legal profession. First elected to LegCo in 2012, Dennis is a member of the executive committee of the Civic Party. Dennis graduated and received his LLB from King’s College London in 1999 and was called to the Hong Kong Bar in 2006. Bonnie Leung is a democracy activist and a member of the Civil Human Rights Front, which organised the massive peaceful protests against Hong Kong’s controversial extradition bill last year. A former district councillor, she also served as an international spokesperson for the anti-extradition bill movement. Sue-Lin Wong is the Financial Times' South China correspondent, covering the pro-democracy protests on the ground in Hong Kong. In 2019, she opened the FT's bureau in Shenzhen, where Chinese tech giants Huawei and Tencent are headquartered. She will be joining The Economist as a China correspondent in July. Sue-Lin graduated from the Australian National University. Ben Bland is a Research Fellow at the Lowy Institute who focuses on Hong Kong, as well as directing the Institute's Southeast Asia Program. He is the author of Generation HK: Seeking Identity in China’s Shadow and was formerly the South China Correspondent for the Financial Times, based in Hong Kong.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.