The Lowy Institute

On the evening of Wednesday 27 July, as part of the Lowy Institute’s Distinguished Speaker Series, The Hon Julie Bishop MP, Deputy Leader of the Opposition and Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, spoke on Australia's bilateral relationship with Papua New Guinea.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Governing climate and weather, shaping planetary chemistry, generating most of the atmospheric oxygen, the ocean is vital to all life. In the past 50 years, more has been learned about the ocean than during all preceding history, but at the same time, more has been lost. Sharp declines in commercially-exploited fish and other marine life and increasing pollution mean trouble for the ocean - and for us. At the Wednesday Lunch at Lowy on 5 August, internationally renowned environmentalist Sylvia Earle explained in her presentation, 'Thinking Blue', why 'hope spots' - fully protected areas in the sea - are critically important to our collective future.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the evening of February 25th, the Lowy Institute hosted a lecture by Clinton Dines reflecting on China’s transformation in the last three decades. Clinton discussed the nature of change in the People’s Republic of China in the Reform & Opening Era: then he assessed the significance of these changes in terms of China’s growing role in the world and for governments and companies seeking effective ways to deal with this geopolitical/economic phenomenon, which simultaneously represents both huge opportunities for global development and serious challenges to the existing status quo. Clinton Dines is one of Australia’s most knowledgeable and respected business leaders in China.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The most significant and positive change in Southeast Asia in the last decade has been the democratisation of Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous country. Thirteen days ago, Indonesia held national parliamentary elections and it appears that the biggest winners are President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his Democratic Party. At the Wednesday Lunch at Lowy on 22 April, Dr Marcus Mietzner analysed the reasons for the Democratic Party's success and what this tells us about the evolution of Indonesia's political party system.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When Nixon launched the War on Drugs in 1971, it was intended primarily as a political strategy rather than as a public policy. While it has failed as a public policy, the War on Drugs has often succeeded as a political strategy. However, significant health, social or economic benefits are hard to identify. There have been no reductions in deaths, diseases, crime or corruption. Global drug production and consumption is increasing while retail price is decreasing and purity is increasing. At the Wednesday Lunch at Lowy on 15 July, Dr Alex Wodak addressed these problems.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At the Wednesday Lunch at Lowy on 16 April, Dr Michael Fullilove read the tea leaves of the contest for the US presidency and discussed the implications for Australia. Dr Michael Fullilove, the Director of the Lowy Institute's Global Issues Program, writes widely on US politics and foreign policy. This year he is based in Washington, DC as a Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institution.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On 2 December, Deputy Director Martine Letts and members of our Lowy Institute research team wound up this year’s Wednesday Lunch at Lowy Club series with a review of 2009, and what it means for Australia. Director of Studies Andrew Shearer, Program Director for East Asia, Dr Malcolm Cook and blog editor Sam Roggeveen gave their perspectives on the year, what surprised them and what did not.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At the Wednesday Lunch at Lowy on 25 November a new Lowy Institute Analysis, 'Comprehending Copenhagen: A Guide to the International Climate Change Negotiations', by Dr Greg Picker and Fergus Green, was launched. The authors outlined the issues on the Copenhagen agenda – from carbon markets to adaptation, from avoided deforestation to emissions reduction targets – and highlighted the areas of dispute between the parties.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At the Wednesday Lunch at Lowy on 7 October 2009, Ambassador Colin Keating, who was New Zealand Ambassador on the Security Council in 1993/94, and now the Executive Director of Security Council Report, gave an insider’s view of what it takes to get elected and what being on the Council could entail for Australia.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At the Wednesday Lunch at Lowy on 22 July a Lowy Institute Policy Brief by Fergus Hanson, 'China: Stumbling through the Pacific', was launched. The Policy brief examines the shortcomings of China's current approach to aid-giving in the Pacific region. Fergus Hanson is a Research Fellow at the Lowy Institute and has written several reports and articles on Chinese development assistance.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On 27 May, the Lowy Institute was pleased to host, as part of its Wednesday Lowy Lunch series, Martin Indyk, who spoke on his new book 'Innocent Abroad: an Intimate Account of American Peace Diplomacy in the Middle East'.Ambassador Indyk has a distinguished career in United States foreign policy and the Middle East. He is a Senior Fellow in Foreign Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC, and the Director of the Saban Center for Middle East Policy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At the Wednesday Lunch at Lowy on 4 November, the Honourable Kevin Lynch, the former Clerk of the Privy Council, Canada, addressed the significant role that public policy plays in responding to the global financial crisis, the most fundamental challenge to free-market orthodoxy since the 1970s, and what this might mean for the institutions of global economic governance such as the IMF, G8, and G20.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On 13 March 2009, as part of its Distinguished Speaker Series, the Lowy Institute was pleased to host His Excellency Nuri al-Maliki, Prime Minister of Iraq. Prime Minister al-Maliki spoke about the future of his country and its prospects for political stability and economic development.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At the Wednesday Lunch at Lowy on 25 October, Professor Michael Grubb addressed the audience on 'Climate change: business responses and international prospects'. Professor Grubb outlined the reasons behind the resumed urgency of business engagement on climate change, and the prospects for international developments over the next few years.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On 21 March, at the Wednesday Lunch at Lowy, Dr Ziggy Switkowski spoke on the topic 'Australia and nuclear power: the road ahead'.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On 4 February, at the first lunch for 2009 in our Wednesday Lunch at Lowy series, three Lowy Institute scholars, Dr Malcolm Cook, Jenny Hayward-Jones and Rory Medcalf, discussed prospects for the Asia Pacific region this year, under the very challenging circumstances of the global financial crisis.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At the Wednesday Lunch at Lowy on 10 September, two prominent Australian Russia scholars, Professor Graeme Gill from Sydney University and Dr Robert Horvath from La Trobe University, examined the policy options for dealing with a newly assertive Russia.The Lowy Institute acknowledges the support of the Innovative Universities European Union Centre (IUEU) for facilitating Dr Horvath's participation in this Wednesday Lowy Lunch panel.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At the Wednesday Lowy Lunch on 28 February, Dr Geoffrey Hawker discussed the growing social and economic crisis in Zimbabwe. As hyper-inflation continues and Mugabe's regime intensifies its repression of critics, signs of dissent within the ruling ZANU-PF party are emerging and general strikes are spreading. If external actors are powerless or unwilling to act, does an internal settlement seem possible?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On 20 September at the Wednesday Lunch at Lowy, Professor Anthony Cordesman spoke on the topic of "Four crises in the Middle East". Professor Cordesman holds the Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On 23 October at a special Monday edition of Wednesday Lunch at Lowy, Victor Mallet, Asia Editor for The Financial Times, spoke on the topic of 'China's hottest export: environmental destruction'.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.