Lowy Institute: Live Events

On Thursday 15 October 2020, the Lowy Institute’s Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove hosted an in conversation event via live video stream with General James Mattis, one of America’s most experienced and influential military leaders. General Mattis spoke about serving as US Secretary of Defense, his career as a US Marine, and the security challenge America faces from a rising China. They were joined by Sir Angus Houston, former Chief of the Australian Defence Force. This event is part of the Lowy Institute's ‘Australia’s Security and the Rules-Based Order Project’ and is supported by the Department of Defence’s Strategic Policy Grants Program.

On Thursday 8 October, Lowy Institute's Director of the Pacific Islands Program, Jonathan Pryke, hosted a panel discussion on the economic devastation across the Pacific brought on by COVID-19–related lockdowns and restrictions. As the Lowy Institute releases the second annual update of its Pacific Aid Map, an analytical tool that collates and analyses data on all aid projects in the Pacific, join us to hear from regional experts and development partners about how the COVID-19 crisis is playing out in the Pacific. The panel consisted of Audrey Aumua, Deputy Director-General at the Pacific Community; Charlotte Blundell, Assistant Secretary for the Pacific Partnerships & Human Development Branch, DFAT; Alexandre Dayant, research lead of the Lowy Institute's Pacific Aid Map; Michel Kerf, World Bank Country Director for Papua New Guinea and the Pacific Islands; and moderator Jonathan Pryke, Director of the Lowy Institute Pacific Islands Program.

In this episode of COVIDcast, Lowy Institute Research Fellow Alexandre Dayant sat down with Professor Joseph E. Stiglitz to discuss the prospect of global cooperation in a time of rising populism and international mistrust. Joseph E. Stiglitz, a Nobel laureate in economics and University Professor at Columbia University, is Chief Economist at the Roosevelt Institute and a former senior vice president and chief economist of the World Bank. COVIDcast is a Lowy Institute pop-up podcast for anyone interested in understanding the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on global politics. In each episode, Lowy Institute experts and invited guests discuss the implications of this crisis for the world.

In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with Australia’s Governor-General, His Excellency David Hurley. Mr Hurley joined the Australian Army in January 1972, graduating from the Royal Military College, Duntroon into the Royal Australian Infantry Corps. His military service culminated with his appointment as Chief of the Defence Force from 2011 to 2014. After serving as CDF, His Excellency was appointed Governor of NSW and then, in 2019, Governor-General of Australia. The Governor-General reflects on his career as an officer in the Australian Army and discusses some of his overseas deployments to the United Kingdom, Somalia, and Malaysia. He looks back at Australia’s involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan and talks about his experience representing the Australian community overseas as a vice regal representative and his work with Indigenous communities.

In this episode of COVIDcast, Richard McGregor, Lowy Institute Senior Fellow, sat down with Shivshankar Menon to discuss the latest currents in Chinese foreign policy, particularly its tense border stand-off with India. Shivshankar Menon is an Indian diplomat who served as National Security Adviser and Foreign Secretary, and also as Ambassador to Pakistan, China and Israel. COVIDcast is a Lowy Institute pop-up podcast for anyone interested in understanding the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on global politics. In each episode, Lowy Institute experts and invited guests discuss the implications of this crisis for the world.

In this episode of COVIDcast, Richard McGregor, Lowy Institute Senior Fellow, sat down with Yun Sun to get a Chinese perspective on Beijing’s latest foreign policy moves. Yun Sun is a Senior Fellow and Co-Director of the East Asia Program and Director of the China Program at the Stimson Center in Washington. COVIDcast is a Lowy Institute pop-up podcast for anyone interested in understanding the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on global politics. In each episode, Lowy Institute experts and invited guests discuss the implications of this crisis for the world.

In this episode of COVIDcast, Richard McGregor, Lowy Institute Senior Fellow, sat down with Bilahari Kausikan to discuss Chinese foreign policy, with a particular emphasis on Southeast Asia. Bilahari Kausikan is chair of the National University of Singapore's Middle East Institute and a former permanent secretary of the Foreign Affairs Ministry in Singapore. COVIDcast is a Lowy Institute pop-up podcast for anyone interested in understanding the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on global politics. In each episode, Lowy Institute experts and invited guests discuss the implications of this crisis for the world.

On Thursday 24 September, Lowy Institute's Senior Fellow for North Asia, Richard McGregor, hosted a panel discussion on Australia and China's relationship. Relations with China seem to be reaching new lows each week for Australia, with a proliferation of disputes over everything from trade to the media to COVID-19 to universities. The panel was made up of ABC's Bill Birtles and the Australian Financial Review's Michael Smith, both recently advised by the Australian government to leave China, along with Kirsty Needham, formerly of the Sydney Morning Herald and now with Reuters, for a discussion of the bilateral relationship.

In this episode of COVIDcast, Lowy Institute Research Fellow Alexandre Dayant sat down with Professor Yanis Varoufakis to discuss Europe and the future of capitalism. Yanis is currently a member of the Hellenic Parliament and served as Greece’s minister of finance during the government debt crisis. COVIDcast is a Lowy Institute pop-up podcast for anyone interested in understanding the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on global politics. In each episode, Lowy Institute experts and invited guests discuss the implications of this crisis for the world.

In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with Ambassador Nicholas Burns, Professor at Harvard University, Executive Director of the Aspen Strategy Group, and one of the leading American diplomats of his generation. Nick served in the US government for nearly three decades, holding senior positions under Presidents George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. He was a member of Secretary of State John Kerry’s Foreign Affairs Policy Board and a foreign policy adviser to Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign in 2016. He is also a foreign policy adviser to Vice President Joe Biden, the 2020 Democratic presidential nominee. Michael and Nick discuss Nick’s career as an American diplomat serving in Nouakchott, Cairo, Jerusalem, Athens, Brussels and Washington, DC. They talk about ‘the unipolar moment’ after the end of the Cold War, America’s relations with Russia and China, and the Australia-US alliance. Nick also makes some observations about the working styles of George H.W. Bush, Brent Scowcroft, Bill Clinton, Condoleezza Rice and George W. Bush.

In this episode of COVIDcast, Hervé Lemahieu, Director of the Asian Power and Diplomacy Program at the Lowy Institute, sat down with Ben Bland to discuss his new book, Man of Contradictions: Joko Widodo and the Struggle to Remake Indonesia, and how the Indonesian president is faring in troubled times. Ben is the Director of the Southeast Asia Program at the Lowy Institute and a long-time Indonesia watcher. COVIDcast is a Lowy Institute pop-up podcast for anyone interested in understanding the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on global politics. In each episode, Lowy Institute experts and invited guests discuss the implications of this crisis for the world.

On Monday 7 September, the Lowy Institute launched the latest Lowy Institute Paper published by Penguin Random House Australia, Man of Contradictions: Joko Widodo and the Struggle to Remake Indonesia, the first English-language biography of Indonesian President Joko Widodo. Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove spoke with author Ben Bland about what makes the president tick, his struggle to implement reform and tackle the COVID-19 crisis, and why outsiders keep getting Jokowi – and Indonesia – wrong.

In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with Jake Sullivan, the senior policy adviser to Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Joe Biden. Jake Sullivan has held positions of trust for many of America’s leaders in the past two decades, as senior policy adviser to the last two Democratic presidential candidates, Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden; deputy chief of staff to Hillary Clinton when she was Secretary of State; and national security adviser to Vice President Joe Biden. In part two of this episode, Jake speaks with Michael about President Donald Trump’s relationship with Russia and his affinity for Vladimir Putin, US policy towards China, Biden’s approach to alliances, climate diplomacy and Australia – and whether Americans are still up for the challenge of global leadership.

In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with Jake Sullivan, the senior policy adviser to Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. Jake Sullivan has held positions of trust for many of America’s leaders in the past two decades, as senior policy adviser to the last two Democratic presidential candidates, Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden; deputy chief of staff to Hillary Clinton when she was Secretary of State; and national security adviser to Vice President Joe Biden. In part one of this episode, Jake speaks about growing up in the American Midwest, the death of George Floyd, imposter syndrome, and gender and the national security community. He also offers some observations about Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Donald Trump and Joe Biden.

On Friday 28 August, the Lowy Institute’s Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove hosted an in conversation event via live video stream with Ambassador Samantha Power, one of America’s leading foreign-policy voices, both as a scholar and a Cabinet member in the Obama administration. Lowy Institute Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove spoke with Power about US foreign policy under President Donald Trump, Vice President Joe Biden’s worldview, the global implications of the coronavirus pandemic and the future of the US-China relationship.