Lowy Institute

Twelve months after the election of the Rudd Government, in the final Wednesday Lunch at Lowy for 2008, Lowy Institute Executive Director Allan Gyngell reflected on what we have learned about the Rudd Government's emerging foreign policy, about the Prime Minister's own contributions to it and what questions it raises for the future.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The political and economic unification of Europe through the European Union is one of the modern world's greatest political projects. Indeed, it questions many of the conventional wisdoms of political science. The evolution of the European Union is also perplexing, particularly for countries such as Australia, who are geographically distant but maintain very close ties to many European countries. On 26 September at a special Tuesday version of the Wednesday Lunch at Lowy series, Professor Jean Blondel will discuss where the European Union is headed and if it can recover from its referendum setbacks. Professor Blondel is a Professorial Fellow at the Robert Schuman Centre of Advanced Studies at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the Lowy Lecture series on 13 July 2011, International Organisation for Migration Director General Ambassador William Lacy Swing addressed factors driving contemporary international migration – demographic change, labour market demand and widening disparities between developed and developing countries. He focused on the contribution migration can make to social and economic development at global and national levels. He concluded with an analysis of the policy orientations that are available to the international community to maximise those benefits.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On 2 March 2009, as part of its Distinguished Speaker Series, the Lowy Institute hosted a speech by Mr Pascal Lamy, the Director-General of the World Trade Organization, on the values of the multilateral trading system.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At the Wednesday Lunch at Lowy on 8 April 2009, Professor Warwick McKibbin explored how well the global financial crisis can be understood as a series of unexpected shocks, what these shocks were and how conventional economic models explain the global adjustment and the implications of alternative policy responses.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Disarming Doubt, a new book-length report produced by the Lowy Institute in partnership with the Center for the Promotion of Disarmament and Non-Proliferation, Japan Institute of International Affairs, provides a window into the debates about security, disarmament and extended deterrence in Japan, South Korea and Australia. The book was launched in Canberra on 19th April 2012. The panel discussion at the launch can be heard here.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Is China ready for global economic leadership? The East Asia Program at the Lowy Institute for International Policy was pleased to host the third China Changing Lecture, presented by Professor David Daokui Li on 19 April 2012. In this year's China Changing Lecture, Professor Li discussed China’s role in the changing world economy. Dr Li's presentation was entitled: 'Is China ready for global economic leadership?'See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mr Max Boot, Senior Fellow for National Security Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, spoke at the Lowy Institute on 17 May on the situation in Iraq, including the prospects for the current US strategy and the consequences if it fails.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week’s Wednesday Lowy Lunch focused on the foreign policy dimensions of Paul Kelly’s new book, 'The March of Patriots: The struggle for modern Australia'. Divided by temperament, politics and values, Paul Keating and John Howard had passionate views about Australia’s role in the world and the national interest strategy best calculated to realise their objectives. In his lecture Paul Kelly reviewed the different conceptions of foreign policy held by Keating and Howard and assessed the legacy they bequeathed to Kevin Rudd.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At the Wednesday Lunch at Lowy on 12 March 2008, International Security Program Director Rory Medcalf proposed a new type of arms control initiative for the Rudd Government, one focused primarily on Asia and its rising nuclear-armed powers China and India.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.