Lowy Institute: Live Events

In this episode of The Director's Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with former Italian Prime Minister, Enrico Letta, about running a major European power, his relationship with world leaders, global governance during COVID-19, and the future of the European project. Enrico Letta served as the Prime Minister of Italy from 2013 to 2014. He is the Dean of the Paris School of International Affairs at Sciences Po in Paris, one of the top international relations schools in the world.

In this episode, Hervé Lemahieu, Director of the Asian Power and Diplomacy Program, sits down with Senator Penny Wong, Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs and Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, to discuss Australia’s role in shaping the post COVID-19 world. COVIDcast is a Lowy Institute pop-up podcast for anyone interested in understanding the effect of coronavirus on global politics. Each week for the next few weeks, Lowy Institute experts will sit down to discuss the implications of coronavirus for the world.

On Thursday 30 April, Richard McGregor, Lowy Institute Senior Fellow and a former Beijing bureau chief for both The Australian and The Financial Times, hosted a live-streamed event with Josh Chin, deputy China bureau chief (in exile) of the Wall Street Journal, Anna Fifield, Beijing bureau chief for The Washington Post, and Jane Perlez, Beijing bureau chief for The New York Times. China has expelled a record number of foreign journalists in recent months, mostly Americans, but also a number of Australians. Although the expulsions have been part of a tit-for-tat battle between Washington and Beijing over the status of journalists in both countries, they also reflect a tougher attitude to foreign criticism by Beijing, and a more uncompromising foreign policy generally.

In this episode, Roland Rajah, Director, International Economy Program, sits down with Rachel Ziemba, Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Center for a New American Security, and Rodger Shanahan, Research Fellow, West Asia Program, to discuss the implications of the recent oil price collapse. COVIDcast is a Lowy Institute pop-up podcast for anyone interested in understanding the effect of coronavirus on global politics. Each week for the next few weeks, Lowy Institute experts will sit down to discuss the implications of coronavirus for the world.

In the second episode of The Director's Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with Lord Mervyn King about COVID-19, global economic downturn, the UK's response to the virus, Brexit, and what Lord King terms the 'radical uncertainty' of economic forecasting during a global crisis. Lord King served as the Governor of the Bank of England from 2003 to 2013, including the period of the global financial crisis.

In this episode, Natasha Kassam, the Institute's Research Fellow in the Diplomacy and Public Opinion Program, sits down with Joel Negin to discuss the current pressures facing the WHO. Joel has been the Head of the School of Public Health at the University of Sydney since 2015. COVIDcast is a Lowy Institute pop-up podcast for anyone interested in understanding the effect of coronavirus on global politics. Each week for the next few weeks, Lowy Institute experts will sit down to discuss the implications of coronavirus for the world.

In this episode, Roland Rajah sits down with the Institute's Director of Research, Alex Oliver, to discuss the impact of the coronavirus on the global economy. Roland is Director of the International Economy Program and the Lowy’s lead international economist. This episode examines one of the key questions about the economic impact of COVID-19 ̶ whether the shock will be temporary or longer-lasting. Roland explains why he believes the economic fall-out will permanently change the global economy, at least in some respects. COVIDcast is a Lowy Institute pop-up podcast for anyone interested in understanding the effect of coronavirus on global politics. Each week for the next few weeks, Lowy Institute experts will sit down to discuss the implications of coronavirus for the world.

In the first episode of The Director's Chair, a new Lowy Institute podcast, Michael Fullilove speaks with Susan Glasser of The New Yorker and Peter Baker of The New York Times about COVID-19, the Trump administration and America. Susan Glasser is a staff writer at The New Yorker, where she writes the weekly Letter from Trump’s Washington. Peter Baker is the Chief White House Correspondent for The New York Times.

The biggest geopolitical rivalry of the 21st century has just been jolted into a new period of uncertainty and risk by the coronavirus pandemic. Australia’s leading authority on US foreign policy, Dr Michael Fullilove, and senior China analyst, Richard McGregor, examine the implications of this global health and economic emergency for the most important international relationship of our time. Lowy Institute Director of Research Alex Oliver chaired this first-ever Lowy Institute Live event, which was live-streamed and included audience questions.

In this episode, the Director of Lowy Institute’s Southeast Asia Program, Ben Bland, sits down with Hervé Lemahieu to discuss geopolitics and the coronavirus pandemic. Hervé is the Director of our Asian Power and Diplomacy Program and an expert in global politics. In this episode, our Institute experts discuss how coronavirus created a man-made pandemic of mistrust and chaos, which is testing social cohesion and globalisation to its core. Ben and Hervé debate the merits of middle-power diplomacy and discuss whether coronavirus has transformed the world as we know it, or simply exposed the dangers that were already lurking within the international system. COVIDcast is a Lowy Institute pop-up podcast for anyone interested in understanding the effect of coronavirus on global politics. Each week for the next few weeks, Lowy Institute experts will sit down to discuss the implications of coronavirus for the world.

In this episode, Lowy Institute’s Director of Research, Alex Oliver, sits down with Jonathan Pryke and Shane McLeod to discuss how the crisis of coronavirus is affecting Australia’s immediate neighbour, the Pacific Islands. Jonathan is the Director of our Pacific Islands Program and an expert on politics, economics and development in the Pacific. Shane directs the Lowy Institute’s Australia-PNG Network and was formerly a foreign correspondent in PNG. In this episode, our Institute experts discuss the current situation in the Pacific, including responses to date by particular governments and leaders; specific risks of coronavirus to the Pacific, including the burden on its health care system and the impact on tourism; widespread fear and misinformation surrounding the virus; and Australia’s role in the global response to coronavirus in the Pacific Islands region. COVIDcast is a Lowy Institute pop-up podcast for anyone interested in understanding the effect of coronavirus on global politics. Each week for the next few weeks, Lowy Institute experts will sit down to discuss the implications of coronavirus for the world.

In this episode, Lowy Institute’s Executive Director, Michael Fullilove, sits down with Ben Bland, Director of our Southeast Asia Program and resident expert on Indonesia’s political system, to discuss the depth of the challenge facing Australia’s largest neighbour and the response from President Joko Widodo. This episode focuses on how Indonesia, and the rest of Southeast Asia, is faring amid the global pandemic. Our Institute experts discuss the varying political responses across the region, the impending economic crunch and impact of geopolitics. COVIDcast is a Lowy Institute pop-up podcast for anyone interested in understanding the effect of coronavirus on global politics. Each week for the next few weeks, Lowy Institute experts will sit down to discuss the implications of coronavirus for the world.

In this episode, Lowy Institute’s Director of Research, Alex Oliver, sits down with Richard McGregor, our resident senior China expert and author of several books on China’s politics and government. This episode focuses on the story of China. Our Institute experts discuss US-China power competition, including the recent expulsion of American journalists from China and Hong Kong, Chinese disinformation and propaganda, something we’ve dubbed the 'geopolitics of infection etymology' and more. COVIDcast is a Lowy Institute pop-up podcast for anyone interested in understanding the effect of coronavirus on global politics. Each week for the next few weeks, Lowy Institute experts will sit down to discuss the implications of coronavirus for the world.

Today, the liberal democratic model faces its biggest challenge in generations. Since the global financial crisis, democratic systems have faced a crisis of public confidence, and open economies have struggled to deliver the broad-based growth of the past. At the same time, in a number of nations around the world, an alternative model of ‘techno-authoritarianism’ has emerged in which mass surveillance and artificial intelligence are being used to build systems of social control. Tim Watts MP addressed the Lowy Institute in Canberra on 27 February 2020 and discussed the ways these competing models of organising society are challenging the health of our democratic institutions – political parties, parliaments, and the media. After the address, Mr Watts joined Lowy Institute Director for International Security, Sam Roggeveen, for a conversation and Q&A.

In this episode, Lowy Institute’s Executive Director, Michael Fullilove, sits down with Alex Oliver, the Institute’s Director of Research; Herve Lemahieu, Director of the our Asian Power and Diplomacy Program; and Roland Rajah, Director of the Institute’s International Economy Program. They discuss coronavirus anxiety, including #toiletpapergate, panic buying and hoarding; the effect of the virus on public sentiment and the emerging gap in public trust of governments and leaders; vulnerabilities in the international system and the lack of international leadership; and the Australian government’s response, including the $2.4 billion health plan and the $17.6 billion economic stimulus package. COVIDcast is a Lowy Institute pop-up podcast for anyone interested in understanding the effect of coronavirus on global politics. Each week for the next few weeks, Lowy Institute experts will sit down to discuss the implications of coronavirus for the world.