Lowy Institute

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.