Lowy Institute

For much of the twentieth century the West's conception of Asia largely focused on Northeast and Southeast Asia. For decades, this largely maritime and 'vertical' view of Asia accurately reflected the distribution of the region's economic and strategic power. But as the world enters the second decade of the twenty-first century this vertical view of Asia has outlived its usefulness, obscuring rather than illuminating emerging geo-strategic realities.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On 9 April at the Wednesday Lunch at Lowy, Singapore-based analyst and journalist Andrew Symon spoke about the increasing interest in nuclear energy in Southeast Asia, to coincide with the launch of a Lowy Institute Analysis written by him on the same topic, 'Nuclear power in Southeast Asia: implications for Australia and non-proliferation'.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On 6 June, at the Wednesday Lunch at Lowy, Professor Warwick McKibbin provided a preliminary assessment of the report released on 1 June by the Prime Ministerial Task Group on Emissions Trading. This joint government-business task group was established by the Prime Minister on 10 December 2006 with a mandate to advise on the nature and design of a workable global emissions trading system in which Australia would be able to participate.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our regular Lowy Lunch was held on Thursday, May 3 to allow a special visiting speaker, Archbishop Pius Ncube, to update us on the current situation in Zimbabwe. Pius Alick Ncube was ordained as the Archbishop of Bulawayo (the second largest city in Zimbabwe and the centre of Matabeleland) on 25 January 1998. As a prominent critic of the Mugabe regime, Archbishop Ncube is an internationally recognised human rights activist. He has worked tirelessly in favour of social justice and against human rights abuses in Zimbabwe.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At the Wednesday Lunch at Lowy on 20 February, Dr Simon Haines, the Reader in English at the Australian National University, spoke on 'Shakespeare, ideology and terrorism'. Shakespeare's villains subvert or dissolve ideology — it appears not to thrive in the climate of his thought. Could this be a helpful corrective in how we think about terroristic behaviour? Or indeed about 'evil' in general?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

News which reaches us from Colombia often paints a picture of a country at war with itself. But Colombia is experiencing a transformation. Security has improved sufficiently to support sustained economic growth, despite the current profound global economic turmoil. What does this mean for Colombia's future, for Latin America, and for greater Australian engagement with Colombia and the region? On Wednesday 11 March 2009, the Lowy Institute was pleased to host Mr Luis Guillermo Plata, Colombia's Minister of Trade, Industry and Tourism, who spoke on the opportunities and challenges Colombia and the region provide.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ever since the days of Franklin Roosevelt, a new president’s first hundred days in office have come to be seen as the first important measure of his performance. Next week marks the end of Barack Obama’s first hundred days as president. How impressively has he performed compared to expectations and historical precedent? Are his policies proving to be more similar to those of President Bush than may have been anticipated – or is this change we can believe in? What clues can we detect about the future directions of his administration?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.