The Lowy Institute

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 about the significance of these events and Russia's ambitions.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 versus geopolitical calculation by Peter Varghese Abnormal states: Kashmir between empire, insurgency, and intrigue by Abhijnan RejSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 shifting global dynamics, rising tariffs, and mounting regional tensions, and considered where the relationship may be headed in the medium and long term.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 information.

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 complementary gauges of success. In a time of high inflation, increased cost of living, and growing environmental degradation, Professor Constanza argues that moving “beyond growth” is essential to achieving sustainable prosperity.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.

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 avoid the wrecking ball that is the second Trump administration.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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. The conversation is hosted by Dr Michael Fullilove AM, the Executive Director of the Lowy Institute. Susan and Michael analyse the first 100 days of Trump 2.0 and the implications for Australia and the world. Susan Glasser joins the conversation online from Washington and Michael Fullilove hosts an in-person audience at 31 Bligh Street. The discussion is followed by an audience Q&A.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With the US election in the rear view mirror 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 Australians’ changing attitudes towards the United States, and their assessments of the prime ministerial candidates' foreign policy abilities. Ryan Neelam, Director of Public Opinion and Foreign Policy, talks with host Lydia Khalil to put these early poll results into context.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 influence, noting in particular Palau’s recognition of Taiwanese independence and its recently renewed Compact of Free Association with the United States. He also discusses emerging development partnership realities in the wake of the re-election of US President Donald Trump, the revisiting of US foreign aid relationships, and the new landscape for pursuing Pacific sustainable development objectives, including accelerating the energy transition towards a fossil-fuel-free Pacific, addressing proposals fo

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 humanitarian and economic impact, prospects for a political settlement to the civil war, and how the International community can best engage the country from here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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, Director, Pacific Islands Program, Lowy InstituteSpecial guest speakers: • Chrisnrita Aumanu-Leong, Solomon Islands correspondent • Belinda Kora, Papua New Guinea correspondent • Marian Kupu, Tonga correspondent • Lice Movono, Fiji correspondentThis special event coincides with the second anniversary of the founding of the Pacific Local Journalism Network (PLJN), a flagship program supported by ABC International Services under the ABC’s Indo-Pacific Broadcasting Strategy.See omnystudio.com/list

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 address, the Lowy Institute’s Executive Director, Dr Michael Fullilove AM, chaired a Q&A session with the Chief of Army. Lieutenant General Simon Stuart, AO DSC, has more than 35 years of military experience, including leadership roles in operations, training, and capability development. He has commanded forces in East Timor, Afghanistan, and Egypt/Israel and most recently served as Head of Land Capability in Army Headquarters after commanding the Multinational Force and Observers. A graduate of the Royal Mi

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 Lowy Institute’s 2025 Distinguished Fellow for International Security. She is currently the William J Perry Lecturer at Stanford University's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies. Prior to this, she served as Deputy Secretary General of NATO from 2016 to 2019 and was Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security at the US State Department. In 2009 and 2010, she was chief US negotiator of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) with the Russian Federation, due to expir

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.

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 discuss the possibilities for nuclear restraint and arms control.‍Since 2013, the Owen Harries Lecture has honoured the enormous contribution made to the international debate in Australia and the United States by Owen Harries, who was a Nonresident Fellow at the Lowy Institute.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 like Australia, and how they should respond.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 and its attitudes towards traditional partners such as Australia.Some of the authors of a recent Carnegie Asia Program report — Evan A. Feigenbaum, Vice President for Studies at the Carnegie Endowment; Courtney Stewart, Senior Managing Consultant at OCRT; and Matthew Sussex, Associate Professor (Adjunct) at Griffith University — discuss these and other questions with Sam Roggeveen, Director of the Lowy Institute’s International Security Program, in an event moderated by Susannah

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 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 Program at the Lowy Institute, and Professor Bec Strating, Director of La Trobe Asia.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.