Lowy Institute

Shortly after the presidential race was called in favour of Donald Trump on 9 November, Interpreter Associate Editor John Gooding spoke with James Curran, professor of history at the University of Sydney and author of the upcoming Lowy Institute Paper 'Fighting with America', about the future of middle power coalitions in the Asia-Pacific and of NATO in Europe under a President Trump.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On Wednesday, 9 November, a panel of Michael Fullilove, Executive Director of the Lowy Institute, Alex Oliver, Director of the Polling Program, Aaron Connelly, East Asia Research Fellow and James Curran, Professor in the Department of History at the University of Sydney, discussed the results of the US election, the likely foreign policy direction of the new administration and its ramifications for Australia at the Lowy Institute in Sydney.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On 27 October, the Lowy Institute hosted a lecture by The Hon Michael Keenan MP, Minister for Justice and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Counter-Terrorism on the evolving terrorist threat to Australia. Mr Keenan’s role within the government is to lead the Commonwealth’s efforts to counter violent extremism and to ensure effective and integrated implementation of Australia’s counterterrorism strategy. He is the primary contact for the Prime Minister for both day-to-day counterterrorism matters and in a terrorism crisis. The Hon Michael Keenan MP was elected to the House of Representatives in 2004, and was appointed Minister Assisting the Prime Minister on Counter-Terrorism in May 2015. He has served as Minister for Justice since September 2013. He has a BA from Murdoch University and Charles University, Prague, a BA (Hons) from the Australian National University and a MPhil from Cambridge University.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Against the background of growing public discussion in Australia over the nature of our relationship with China, on 17 October Lowy Institute Executive Director, Dr Michael Fullilove chaired a panel of Lowy Institute experts to explore the future of Australia-China ties. East Asia Program Director Dr Merriden Varrall, International Security Program Director Dr Euan Graham, and Research Fellow Peter Cai debated some of the key issues that will shape the relationship, from China’s regional ambitions and how these are perceived, to the political and economic changes taking place within China.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Almost two decades have passed since the Hong Kong handover ceremony and much has changed for the now self-governing special administrative region of the People’s Republic of China. On 17 October the Lowy Institute hosted a conversation with Anson Chan, former Chief Secretary of the Hong Kong government both before and after the handover, and Martin CM Lee (Lee Chu Ming), founding Chairman of the Hong Kong Democratic Party. Chan and Lee will discuss Hong Kong’s relationship with the mainland, the outcome and implications of the recently concluded elections for the Legislative Council, and why Hong Kong should matter to the rest of the world. Anson Chan retired as the Chief Secretary for Administration of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government in 2001. As Chief Secretary, she headed the 190 000-strong civil service. She was the first woman and the first Chinese to hold the second-highest governmental position in Hong Kong. During her career in the public service she was responsible for development of Hong Kong’s economic infrastructure including the planning and construction of Hong Kong’s new international airport, port expansion, and deregulation of the telecommunications market. Martin CM Lee (Lee Chu Ming) is a Senior Counsel (formerly, Queen’s Counsel). He is the founding Chairman (1994–2002) of the Democratic Party, which is one of the largest and most popular political parties in Hong Kong, and was an elected member of the Legislative Council from 1985 to 2008. The European People’s Party and European Democrats in the European Parliament named Mr Lee the first non-European recipient of the Schuman Medal in January 2000. In 1997, the National Endowment for Democracy presented its Democracy Award to Mr Lee at a Capitol Hill ceremony in Washington DC.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

'On the global chessboard, we can no longer attempt to predict the future - whether of nations or of the international system - on the basis of past or present trends…We are living in a period of disruptions and discontinuity that is far from ending and is increasingly out of control.' Jean-David Levitte, the Lowy Institute’s inaugural Distinguished European Fellow, wrote those prescient words in 2013. Jean-David Levitte is coming to Sydney to discuss this world of shocks and disruptions. Please join us at the Lowy Institute to hear his perspective on the threat of Islamic State in the Middle East and Europe, the state of the European project after Brexit, and the rise of new powers in Asia. The annual Owen Harries Lecture honours the enormous contribution Mr Harries, a Nonresident Fellow at the Lowy Institute, has made to the international policy debate in Australia.Jean-David Levitte was the senior foreign policy adviser to Presidents Nicolas Sarkozy and Jacques Chirac and served on the presidential staff of Valery Giscard d’Estaing. He has held senior positions in the French Foreign Ministry, including as assistant secretary for Asia. He was the French ambassador to the United Nations in New York from 2000 to 2002 (chairing the Security Council on 9/11), and the Ambassador of France to the United States in Washington, DC during the war in Iraq.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Australian Army has operated as an expeditionary continental army for most of its history. However, the 2016 Defence White Paper reflects an affirmation of strategic policy that positions Australia’s security within the maritime environment of the Indo-Pacific region. Does this mark a turning of the tide for Australia’s strategic defence operations?On 4 October, the Lowy Institute hosted an address from Australia's Chief of Army, Lieutenant General Angus Campbell, which explored the changing nature of Australia’s defence strategy in a new maritime environment and its implications for the Australian Army.Lieutenant General Campbell was appointed Chief of the Australian Army on 16 May 2015. He served as Chief of Staff to General Peter Cosgrove and later Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston during their respective tenures as Chief of the Defence Force. He was appointed as Commander Joint Task Force 633 in 2011, responsible for all Australian forces deployed in the Middle East and Afghanistan, for which service he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. He holds a Bachelor of Science (Honours) from the University of New South Wales, a Master of Philosophy in International Relations from Cambridge University, and is a graduate of the Australian Army Command and Staff College.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On 6 October the Lowy Institute hosted an address by the Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet Dr Martin Parkinson PSM on the government’s work to strengthen the effectiveness of the G20 and the importance of promoting dialogue between governments, business, academics and non-government organisations. This address was also be the final public event for the Lowy Institute’s G20 Studies Centre.Dr Martin Parkinson PSM was appointed as Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet in December 2015. He previously served as Secretary of the Department of the Treasury between March 2011 and December 2014. Between 1997 and 2000, he worked at the International Monetary Fund on the reform of the global financial architecture. He is a former member of the Reserve Bank of Australia, and has received the Public Service Medal for his contribution to the development of economic policy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On Friday, 30 September the Lowy Institute hosted The Hon Scott Morrison MP for an address on the importance of trade, investment, and positive immigration policies to Australia’s economic future.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

According to this year’s Lowy Institute Poll, Australians are anxious about the prospect of a Trump presidency, and have serious reservations about China, despite it being our largest trading partner and ‘new best friend’ in Asia.On 27 September, Poll author Alex Oliver convened a distinguished panel with MP and co-author of Two futures: Australia at a critical moment, entrepreneur Tim Watts, youth advocate Holly Ransom, and Sky News foreign affairs correspondent Jim Middleton for a discussion of some of the many thought-provoking findings of this year’s Lowy Institute Poll.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.