The Lowy Institute

The recent decision by United States President Trump to withdraw US forces from Syria has again focused attention on the ongoing Syrian civil war. The move has been heavily criticised by many in and outside the US, although others have questioned what purpose the forces were serving inside Syria on an ill-defined mission. Lowy Institute Nonresident Fellow Anthony Bubalo moderated a panel discussion with Dr Rodger Shanahan, Research Fellow in the West Asia Program, and Lauren Williams, journalist, researcher, and analyst specialising in Syria and the Levant. The panel analysed the possible ramifications of the withdrawal and examined the military and political situation in Syria and the challenges of reconstructing the war-torn country.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Lowy Institute hosted this popular annual panel discussion with Institute experts on the key issues likely to dominate the international agenda in 2019. Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove chaired the discussion in Sydney. Also on the panel were Director of Research Alex Oliver, Senior Fellow Richard McGregor, Director of the Southeast Asia Project Ben Bland, and Director of the International Economy Program, Roland Rajah.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lowy Institute’s Executive Director Michael Fullilove and The New York Times editor and columnist Bari Weiss had a conversation about journalism, American politics and society, and the role of the United States in the world under President Donald Trump. Bari Weiss is an op-ed staff editor and columnist for The New York Times on culture and politics. Ms Weiss was previously an op-ed and book review editor at The Wall Street Journal before joining The Times in 2017. She is currently working on a book, The New Seven Dirty Words, for Henry Holt and Company. She is a native of Pittsburgh and a graduate of Columbia University. Michael Fullilove is the Executive Director of the Lowy Institute. He writes widely on global issues for publications including The New York Times, Financial Times, Foreign Policy, and Foreign Affairs, as well as the Australian press. Dr Fullilove is the author of a number of books, including Rendezvous with Destiny: How Franklin D. Roosevelt and Five Extraordinary Men Took America into the W

China is holding hundreds of thousands of Uighurs in detention camps in Xinjiang, western China, in what appears to be a systematic targeting of an entire ethnic and religious group in the name of national security. After first denying their existence, China now claims the camps are vocational centres designed to combat extremism. The Uighur community, however, tell a different story – of detainees being forced to denounce their Islamic faith and swear allegiance to the communist party.The Lowy Institute's Richard McGregor hosted a discussion of the situation in Xinjiang, and how the scale of the camps was uncovered. The panel featured Nury Turkel, the Washington-based chair of the Uighur Human Rights Project, Dr Mamtimin Ala, President of the Australian Uighur Association, David Brophy, of Sydney University, and Lowy Institute researcher Kelsey Munro.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Lowy Institute hosted the President of the Brookings Institution for a conversation about the world. John R. Allen and Michael Fullilove discussed US foreign policy, trends in international politics, and the transformative effects of technology on international affairs. John R. Allen was appointed President of the Brookings Institution in November 2017. He is a retired US Marine Corps four-star general and former commander of the NATO International Security Assistance Force and US Forces in Afghanistan. He served as senior adviser to the Secretary of Defence on Middle East Security and Special Presidential Envoy to the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL.Michael Fullilove has served as Executive Director of the Lowy Institute since August 2012. Over the past decade and a half, Dr Fullilove has played a central role in the establishment and development of the Lowy Institute. He previously served as Program Director, Global Issues at the Institute and has also worked as a lawyer, a visiting fellow at the Brook

The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator the Hon Marise Payne, delivered an address to the Lowy Institute. Senator Payne has served as a Senator for New South Wales since 1997. She served 12 years on the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, including a period as Chair of its Human Rights subcommittee. She was Minister for Human Services from 2013 to 2015 when she assumed the Defence portfolio, becoming the first woman to hold the position of Minister for Defence. She was appointed Foreign Minister in August 2018.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How is China trying to unseat the United States as the dominant power in Asia? What tactics are Beijing using and how is the US responding?The Lowy Institute hosted a panel discussion about China’s challenge to America’s military dominance in Asia, a phenomenon which is upending Australia’s longstanding assumptions about its strategic position in the region. The panel examined the entrepreneurial ways China has been building military power, how it may have lulled the US into inaction, and what it means for the future of security in the Indo-Pacific.The panel was hosted by Sam Roggeveen, Director of Lowy Institute’s International Security Program, with Oriana Skylar Mastro, of Georgetown University and the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), Brendan Taylor, of the Australian National University, and the author of ‘The Four Flashpoints: How Asia Goes to War’, and Professor Benjamin Schreer of Macquarie University.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The decision by the United Kingdom to withdraw from the European Union is more than two years old. What will happen on Brexit day on 29 March next year? What kind of deal, if any, will Britain negotiate? What will be the impact on the infighting in British politics and within Prime Minister Theresa May’s government? As the country nears the date set for the conclusion of negotiations with Brussels, join a panel of experts at the Lowy Institute to discuss the outcomes of either a ‘deal’ or ‘no deal’ scenario, the outlook for the United Kingdom after Brexit, and the consequences for Australia and its ties with both London and Brussels.Sydney's panel comprised Dr Annmarie Elijah, Associate Director, ANU Centre for European Studies; Ticky Fullerton, business journalist and anchor of the TICKY program on "Your Money", and Hervé Lemahieu, Director of the Lowy Institute Asian Power and Diplomacy Program, together with moderator Alex Oliver, Lowy Institute Director of Research.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy

We are now halfway through Donald Trump’s first term as president of the United States. With a polarised US public and a fraying international order, the president faces his first electoral report card since 2016 in the mid-term elections. The results will influence the trajectory of US politics and foreign policy for the next two, and possibly six, years. Lowy Institute Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove gave an address on the Trump administration, the effect of the midterms on US foreign policy and what this means for Australia and the world order. The event was chaired by Lowy Institute’s Research Director Alex Oliver.Michael Fullilove has served as the Executive Director of the Lowy Institute since 2012. He writes widely on Australian foreign policy, US foreign policy and global issues in publications including The New York Times, Financial Times, Foreign Policy, and Foreign Affairs, as well as the Australian press. In 2015, Dr Fullilove delivered the Boyer Lectures, which were published as A Larger

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the global financial crisis and the elevation of the G20 to a leader-level forum. Ten years on, has the G20 fulfilled its promise of improving global economic cooperation, particularly in the current environment of rising geopolitical tension and trade frictions? With only a few weeks until the Buenos Aires Summit, Dr David Gruen, Australia’s G20 Sherpa, discussed the role of the G20 in the global economic order, including its progress since 2008 and prospects for the future.Dr David Gruen is the Deputy Secretary, Economic, at the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, and G20 Sherpa. Before joining the Department in September 2014, he was Executive Director of The Macroeconomic Group at the Australian Treasury.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On Monday 29 October the Lowy Institute hosted the Hon Bill Shorten MP, Leader of the Opposition, for a major foreign policy address. Mr Shorten has served as the Leader of the Opposition since 2013. He was first elected as the Member for Maribyrnong at the 2007 Federal election. He served as a Cabinet Minister in the Rudd and Gillard Governments.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In an age of ubiquitous data, the “scarce factor is the ability to understand that data and extract value from it”. Google’s Chief Economist, Hal R Varian, and Lowy Institute’s International Economy Director Roland Rajah had a discussion on the economics of data, how data can drive innovation and improve our wellbeing, and the debate over its effects on competition and the appropriate role of government. Dr Varian is an emeritus professor at the University of California, Berkeley, in three departments: business, economics, and information management. He has also taught at MIT, Stanford, Oxford, Michigan and other universities around the world. Professor Varian has published numerous papers in economic theory, industrial organisation, financial economics, econometrics, and information economics. He is the co-author of a bestselling book on business strategy, Information Rules: A Strategic Guide to the Network Economy, and wrote a monthly column for The New York Times from 2000 to 2007.See omnystudio.com/liste

On the eve of the visit to Australia by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, the Lowy Institute held an event on the issue of the republic and Australia’s place in the world. Constitutional monarchist Julian Leeser MP, Federal Member for Berowra, and Michael Cooney, National Director of the Australian Republic Movement, joined Alex Oliver, Lowy Institute Director of Research, for a panel discussion on whether Australia’s status as a constitutional monarchy affects the way the world see us – and how we see ourselves.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Professor Robert Cribb of the Australia National University (ANU) delivered a keynote address (30 minutes) on the place of minorities in Indonesia, as part of the 2018 Indonesia Update, presented in cooperation with the ANU. This was followed by a panel discussion (35 minutes) featuring Professor Cribb; Dr Sandra Hamid, the Asia Foundation’s country representative in Indonesia; and Associate Professor Charlotte Setijadi, Singapore Management University. Tim Johnston moderated.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tom Power of the Australia National University (ANU) Indonesia Project delivered the 2018 political update (approximately 35 minutes), followed by a panel discussion on Indonesia’s upcoming April 2019 elections (approximately 40 minutes) featuring Power, ANU; Sidney Jones, the director of the Institute for Policy Analysis in Jakarta; and Aaron Connelly, the director of the Southeast Asia Project at the Lowy Institute. Ulla Fionna moderated.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The international order is under strain. Rising powers want to rewrite the rules, Western leaders are turning inwards, and technology is breaking down barriers. What can middle powers do in response? Lowy Institute Executive Director Michael Fullilove moderated a discussion with Ralf Beste, Head of Policy Planning at the German Federal Foreign Office, Volker Perthes, Director of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, and Gudrun Wacker, Senior Fellow in the Asia Division at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In November, New Caledonia will face an independence referendum. This will bring to an end the Matignon and Noumea Accords, which delivered 30 years of peace after a bloody civil war. France is overseeing preparations.Australia's position continues to be simple support for the full implementation of the 1998 Noumea Accord, including a genuine referendum process. The Accord planned a scheduled handover and sharing of some responsibilities by France, and economic re-balancing between the mainly European and mainly Kanak areas. It stipulates that the final vote would decide three things: New Caledonia's future international status; whether France retains responsibility for defence, foreign affairs, currency, law and order, and justice; and citizenship, or employment/voting rights, for longstanding residents.On August 15, CarriageWorks presented the world premiere of new work by resident company Marrugeku, with an inter-cultural and trans-Indigenous production, featuring Australian and New Caledonia dancers of Fi

The Lowy Institute hosted an address by the Hon Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi, Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Samoa.The Pacific is back in international headlines. New partners in the region are contributing to a fast-changing geostrategic landscape, and old partners are ‘stepping up’ in response. But how new are these current dynamics? How do Pacific Islanders view the movements and machinations of large powers in the Pacific and how have they responded to such developments? How are Pacific Island countries shaping the engagement of partners in the region, and how will they continue to shape them in the future? We delved into these issues and more with Samoa’s Prime Minister.The Hon Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi is the leader of the Human Rights Protection Party, which currently retains 47 of the 50 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Samoa. He has been a Member of Parliament since 1981 and has previously served as Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister. In 1998 he became the sixth Pri

Whether in terms of denuclearisation talks with North Korea, an escalating trade war with China, or the promotion of a concept and strategy for a ‘Free and Open Indo-Pacific’, the pace of US statecraft in Asia has been frenetic in recent months. Has the United States reclaimed the initiative in great power competition in the region? Are bold but often contradictory US initiatives unpicking or strengthening America’s position in Asia? Will a ‘new era in US economic commitment’ to the region prove more meaningful than the last, which ended with US withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership? And how do regional partners and adversaries interpret recent developments?Alex Oliver, Director of Research at the Lowy Institute, chaired a panel discussion with Gordon Flake, CEO of the Perth USAsia Centre, together with Lowy Institute Senior Fellows Dr Euan Graham and Richard McGregor.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Australia now has its fifth prime minister in five years. What does this mean for Australia’s place in the world? Does our reputation as the ‘coup capital of the democratic world’ damage Australia’s international standing? How does it affect our ability to run a coherent foreign policy? And what might we expect from the Morrison government? Four Lowy Institute experts discussed the global implications of Australia’s political crisis. Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove chaired a discussion with Director of Research Alex Oliver, Senior Fellow Richard McGregor, and Director of the International Security Program Sam Roggeveen.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.