Lowy Institute: Live Events

The Hon Michael Keenan MP, the Minister for Justice and the Minister Assisting the Prime Minister on Counter-Terrorism, addressed the Lowy Institute on 24 July 2015 to discuss Australia’s counter-terrorism strategy. The address focused on the new wave of terrorism facing Australia, and the steps the Australian Government is taking to counter it, particularly through the Countering Violent Extremism program.

On 21 July, James M. Lindsay, Senior Vice President and Director of Studies at the US Council on Foreign Relations, spoke with Anthony Bubalo on the future of US leadership in the world. The conversation addressed US leadership challenges in Europe, the Middle East and Asia and preview the 2016 presidential election. James M. Lindsay is Senior Vice President, Director of Studies, and the Maurice R. Greenberg chair at the Council on Foreign Relations. He was previously the inaugural director of the University of Texas at Austin's Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law. Dr. Lindsay also served as professor of political science at the University of Iowa and Director for Global Issues and Multilateral Affairs on the National Security Council staff. He is coauthor, with Ivo H. Daalder, of America Unbound: The Bush Revolution in Foreign Policy. Dr. Lindsay holds an AB in economics and political science from the University of Michigan and an MA, an MPhil, and a PhD from Yale University.

This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of one of Australia’s best-remembered foreign policy speeches – Opposition Leader Arthur Calwell’s 1965 parliamentary statement of opposition to Australia’s participation in the Vietnam war. In honour of this anniversary the Lowy Institute for International Policy hosted Graham Freudenberg AM, the principal author of Calwell's speech, for a discussion on the role of foreign policy speeches, and how that role has changed in the last half-century. Mr Freudenberg is the dean of Australian speechwriters, having worked for no fewer than six Labor leaders and written many of Australia’s most celebrated political speeches. He has also authored a number of books including Churchill and Australia (2008) and his memoir, A Figure of Speech (2005). Joining Mr Freudenberg on the panel was Michael Cooney, speechwriter to Prime Minister Julia Gillard and author of The Gillard Project (2015).

Director of the Lowy Institute's International Economy Program Leon Berkelmans describes the latest developments in Europe, and possible implications for Asia.

On Tuesday 30 June, Lowy Institute International Economy Program Director Leon Berkelmans spoke to the Economics Society of Australia on negative interest rates.

On Monday 22 June, the Lowy Institute hosted a conversation between Lowy Institute International Economy and G20 Studies Centre Program Director Dr Leon Berkelmans and Lowy Institute visiting scholar Dr Yu Ye. Dr Ye is a political economist and Associate Professor at the Shanghai Institute for International Studies (SIIS), one of China’s leading think tanks.

As the Lowy Institute releases its eleventh annual Lowy Institute Poll, Alex Oliver speaks with Sol Lebovic, who has provided independent advice and technical support to the Lowy Institute on our polling program for several years. Sol is one of Australia’s most distinguished pollsters, founding Newspoll in 1985 and directing it for more than two decades.

On 11 June the Lowy Institute was pleased to host a special event with Australian Foreign Minister The Hon Julie Bishop MP. The Minister outlined her vision for Australian foreign policy in an evolving strategic and economic global environment, and how the expansion of Australia’s diplomatic network – the largest single increase in 40 years – will support the Australian Government’s efforts to make Australia a safe and more prosperous nation.

Peter Greste is an award-winning journalist and correspondent. He has worked for a number of news organisations including Reuters and the BBC before joining Al-Jazeera's English news channel. In December 2013 Greste and two Al-Jazeera colleagues, Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed, were arrested in Cairo on charges that included aiding a terrorist group. Greste was deported after spending 400 days in an Egyptian jail but is still facing criminal charges, alongside Fahmy and Mohamed, in an ongoing trial. On 10 June, Greste joined Lowy Institute Research Director Anthony Bubalo for a conversation on his time in jail, the prospects for Fahmy and Mohamed, Al-Jazeera as a news organisation, and what his experience means for press freedom in Egypt and around the world.

Later this week Australia is due to host a regional summit on countering violent extremism. In this podcast Anthony Bubalo talks to Dr Anne Aly about this summit and a previous summit on the topic held by the US in February 2015.

What makes a young man or woman want to travel to Iraq to join Islamic State? What motivates so-called 'lone wolves' to plan acts of terrorist violence in Australia? The Lowy Institute was pleased to host distinguished Australian academic Dr Anne Aly to explore these and other questions as she examined why some individuals and groups transition from radical thought to violent extremism.

Enacted in 1980, the one child policy was designed to allow China's development to forge ahead. Demographers estimate that at between 100 and 400 million births were averted as a direct result of this policy, and some Chinese argue that this has helped China achieve the momentous task of lifting over 550 million people out of poverty. However, the policy has been controversial, with accusations of human rights abuses in implementation, unusually high sex ratios at birth, as well as concerns about the social implications of a generation of single children. On Monday 25 May, acclaimed journalist and novelist Ms Xue Xinran joined Lowy Institute East Asia program Director Merriden Varrall in a conversation about how the one child policy, introduced in 1978, is affecting the Chinese social, economic, and political landscape.

For Australia, China's foreign policy, particularly in the Asian region, is of critical importance. To respond effectively to China's activities in a way that protects Australia's interests, we need to know not only what China is doing, but why. There appears to be a contradiction in Chinese foreign policy that Xi Jinping is prioritising good relations with countries on the periphery, however at the same time, insists China will not compromise on any issue pertaining to its territorial sovereignty. How can this apparent tension be resolved, particularly when China blames tensions around its periphery on the U.S. Rebalance to Asia, not on its own policies. The U.S. says China is intimidating its neighbours and not abiding by international law. Who is right? On 21 May, John Garnaut and Bonnie Glaser discussed China's regional policy with Lowy Institute East Asia Program Director Merriden Varrall.

On 20-21 May 2015 the G20 Studies Centre at the Lowy Institute for International Policy hosted a conference on international economic governance. This introductory session featured Reserve Bank Deputy Governer Philip Lowe and Lowy Institute Executive Director Michael Fullilove. The session outlined the state of international governance in 2015, with an overview of the G20's history, tracing its development into a premier forum for managing the global economy and the implications of recent geopolitical developments. There were also reflections on Australia’s G20 presidency and on China’s future presidency in 2016.

Energy and climate change have been hotly contested on the G20 agenda. The 2015 Leaders’ Summit will be two weeks before the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change COP21 meeting in December 2015. This session of the G20 Studies Centre international economic governance conference delved into questions of how to transform the international energy architecture and what the G20 could achieve with regards to climate change. Michelle Grattan concluded the session with a broader conversation about G20 communications.