Lowy Institute

Since the start of the Syrian civil war, up to 200 Australians have travelled to Syria and Iraq to fight with jihadist groups, and dozens more have been charged with terrorism offences in Australia. The legal process against jihadists in Australia and those returning from overseas will continue for years to come. Foreign fighters claim that they simply provided humanitarian assistance or did not fight, and domestic terrorists often blame mental health issues for their acts. Yet little is known publicly about their true motivations, how they organised themselves, what role mental health has really played in their actions, how contrite they have been, and how likely they are to be rehabilitated. Research Fellow Dr Rodger Shanahan has written widely on foreign fighters and has been an expert witness in more than two dozen terrorism cases in Australia. He attempted to shed light on the often darkened world of the Australian jihadist, using their own words and those of the courts to try to explain the motivations and worldview of Australian terrorists.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator Penny Wong, addressed the Lowy Institute on what a Labor Government would mean for Australia’s international engagement. How does Labor see Australia’s place in the world? What would be the priorities for a Labor Government? After her address, Senator Wong joined Lowy Institute Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove in conversation.Senator Penny Wong, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, was first elected in 2001. She held several ministerial positions between 2007 and 2013, including Minister for Climate Change and Water and Minister for Finance and Deregulation. Since 2016 Senator Wong has been Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs.Dr Michael Fullilove is Executive Director of the Lowy Institute and a leading expert on Australian and US foreign policy. He is the author of Rendezvous with Destiny: How Franklin D Roosevelt and Five Extraordinary Men Took America into the War and the World.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The economy, tax, debt and health are the issues that are most likely to dominate the federal election campaign. But there are other matters of importance to Australians that should be debated. Which party is best able to balance our delicate relationships with Washington and Beijing? Both parties have promised to give a higher priority to our relationships in the Pacific but whose plans are most likely to succeed? Both parties are committed to increasing defence spending but will this fall victim to the competition to cut income taxes and achieve sustainable budget surpluses? Will spending on foreign aid also be sacrificed because of budgetary pressures? What do the findings of the Lowy Institute Poll tell us about voters’ attitudes?Lowy Institute experts discussed these and other important foreign policy and defence issues of the federal election campaign. Dr Michael Fullilove is Executive Director of the Lowy Institute and a leading expert on Australian and US foreign policy. He is the author of Rendezvous with Destiny: How Franklin D Roosevelt and Five Extraordinary Men Took America into the War and the World. Alex Oliver is the Director of Research at the Lowy Institute. She is responsible for the Institute’s research program and team. Until 2018, she directed the Lowy Institute’s program on diplomacy and public opinion, including the annual Lowy Institute Poll.Richard McGregor, Lowy Institute Senior Fellow, is a leading expert on China’s political system and Australia’s relations with Asia. He is the author of The Party: The Secret World of China’s Communist Rulers and Australia’s Reckoning: China, Japan and the Fate of US Power in the Pacific Century. Annmaree O’Keeffe is a Nonresident Fellow of the Lowy Institute with vast experience in the Pacific and Papua New Guinea. She was a Deputy Director General of Australia’s former foreign aid agency, AusAID, and has served as Australian Ambassador to Nepal. Sam Roggeveen, Director of the Lowy Institute’s International Security program, writes about Australian defence and foreign policy, as well as China’s growing military. He is writing a book on Australia’s domestic political dysfunction and what it means for our place in the world.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Following a succession of severe conflicts that have caused massive loss of life, dislocation and grave human rights violations, the task of the human rights movement today is a daunting one. Has the international community become resigned to irresolvable conflicts and human rights atrocities? The Lowy Institute hosted Philippe Bolopion, Human Rights Watch’s Deputy Director for Global Advocacy, together with ABC foreign correspondent Sophie McNeill and human rights expert and legal advocate Chris Sidoti for a discussion about the challenges of working against atrocities in countries such as Syria, Yemen, and Myanmar, and how United Nations advocacy can be effective. The discussion was moderated by Lowy Institute Director of Research, Alex Oliver. Philippe Bolopion is the Deputy Director for Global Advocacy at Human Rights Watch, where he contributes to HRW’s advocacy strategies and its advocacy response to crisis situations worldwide. Bolopion has been with HRW since 2010, travelling extensively to conflict zones such as Burundi, South Sudan, and Mali. He has been UN correspondent with French daily Le Monde and a journalist for France 24 and Radio France International. He reported on the end of the Kosovo conflict in Pristina (1999–2000), and is the author of Guantanamo: Le bagne du bout du monde (2004). Sophie McNeill is a reporter with the ABC’s Four Corners program and former Middle East correspondent. She has worked across the region including in Afghanistan, Yemen, Israel, Iraq, Pakistan, Syria, Egypt, Turkey, and Gaza. She has received three Walkley awards: in 2016 both for her reporting on the war in Yemen and for her work on the starvation of Syrian children in towns under siege, and in 2010 for her investigation into the killing of five children in Afghanistan by Australian Special Forces soldiers. She has twice been awarded Australian Young TV Journalist of the Year. Chris Sidoti is an expert on human rights law, a senior human rights advocate, and a member of the United Nations Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar since July 2017. He has been Australian Human Rights Commissioner (1999–2000), a commissioner of the Australian Law Reform Commission (1992–1995), and has led human rights organisations in Australia and Geneva. He is presently an adjunct professor at the Australian Catholic University.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The relationship between Washington and Beijing is increasingly competitive. The economic interdependence that once underwrote the relationship now undermines it. The two militaries are testing the other’s resolve in the Pacific Ocean. A new “space race” in technology – 5G, artificial intelligence, and fintech – is fuelling mistrust. Why has Washington’s view of Beijing darkened? Is the US developing a coherent strategy on China? How is Beijing responding? Lowy Institute Senior Fellow Richard McGregor and Laura Rosenberger discussed the state of relations between the two global superpowers. Laura Rosenberger is Director of the Alliance for Securing Democracy and a Senior Fellow at The German Marshall Fund. She has previously served in a variety of positions at the State Department including managing US–China relations, addressing North Korea’s nuclear program and serving as an adviser to senior US diplomats Bill Burns and Tony Blinken. She also worked as National Security Council director for China and Korea and foreign policy adviser for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign. Ms Rosenberger is a Vice Chancellor’s Distinguished Visitor at the Australian National University’s National Security College. The Lowy Institute thanks the NSC for facilitating her visit.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lowy Institute Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove had a conversation about global issues with Stephen J. Hadley, former National Security Adviser to President George W. Bush.Stephen Hadley is one of the most respected foreign policy makers in Washington, DC. He served for four years as the Assistant to President George W. Bush for National Security Affairs from 2005 to 2009. From 2001 to 2005, Mr Hadley was the Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Adviser, serving under then National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice. Mr Hadley had previously served on the National Security Council staff and in the Defense Department including as Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy. Mr Hadley now serves as a Principal at RiceHadleyGates LLC and as Chair of the Board of Directors of the United States Institute of Peace.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Lowy Institute hosted Mr Mike Burgess, director-general of the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD), for an address on ASD’s offensive cyber capabilities. Mr Burgess has served as the head of ASD since 4 January 2018, becoming the first director-general of ASD on 1 July 2018. He has worked as an intelligence official, consultant, and private-sector chief information security officer. He has served on the Federal Government’s naval shipbuilding advisory board, the Australian Cyber Security Growth Network board, and as a non-executive director of SC8 Limited. Mr Burgess holds a degree in electronics engineering from the South Australian Institute of Technology.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On 17 April, 190 million Indonesians will vote for their president and parliament in one of the largest single-day elections the world has ever seen. Incumbent President Joko Widodo and rival Prabowo Subianto are facing off in a replay of the bitterly-fought 2014 campaign.Indonesia has become a vibrant and competitive democracy. But human rights activists are worried about the government’s use of legal tools against its opponents and the exploitation of heated religious rhetoric as a campaign tool. Meanwhile, vested interests in the armed forces, bureaucracy, and established political parties are stymying much-needed reforms.Eminent Indonesian political expert Professor Dewi Fortuna Anwar, and Director of Lowy Institute’s Southeast Asia Project Ben Bland, discussed the elections, the state of democracy in Indonesia, and the implications for Indonesia’s international relations.Professor Dewi Fortuna Anwar is a Research Professor at the Centre for Politics at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences. She previously served as Deputy Secretary in the Vice President’s office from 2010-2017 and as a senior foreign affairs official from 1998-1999. She has also advised many international organisations and is currently a governing board member of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.Professor Dewi Fortuna Anwar’s visit to Australia is part of the ASEAN-Australia Visiting Fellows Program at the Lowy Institute, which is supported by the Australian Government through the Australia-ASEAN Council of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The implications for national security are often overlooked in discussions on climate change. In the Middle East, however, regional cooperation is vital when responding to the declining availability of water and periods of prolonged drought. How do you foster cooperation in a troubled region?Gidon Bromberg is co-founder of EcoPeace Middle East, an organisation which brings together Jordanians, Palestinians, and Israelis to advance sustainable and peaceful regional development, including in an ambitious project for the Jordan Valley. Mr Bromberg has written extensively on the relationship between water, peace, and security in the Middle East, and has presented to United Nations forums, the US Congress, and the European Parliament.Dr Rodger Shanahan, Lowy Institute Research Fellow, had a conversation with Gidon Bromberg about security, cooperation, and the preservation of scarce natural resources in the Middle East.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The nuclear non-proliferation regime is under threat. Disarmament has stalled. Challenges from Moscow, Pyongyang, and Washington are mounting. Deteriorating trust between nuclear states threatens the emergence of a new arms race.What does this mean for Australia? What role should we play in the global effort against nuclear proliferation? Should we sign the Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty? And how does our nuclear stance affect our alliance with the United States? The Lowy Institute hosted former foreign minister the Hon Gareth Evans AC QC and former chairman of the UN Human Rights Council’s Commission of Inquiry on Democratic People’s Republic of Korea the Hon Michael Kirby AC CMG for a discussion on Australia’s nuclear weapons policy. The event was introduced by Lowy Institute Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove and moderated by Research Director Alex Oliver.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.