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Lowy Institute Conversations
by Lowy Institute
Welcome to Lowy Institute Conversations – a podcast in which Lowy Institute researchers and some of the world’s leading experts delve into the big issues in international affairs.
Episodes
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Can AI rebuild democracy?
The public’s anxiety about artificial intelligence appears to be growing, with high-profile data security breaches and opposition towards data centres attracting negative attention. Yet a more hopeful view is also gaining ground: that the technology could help rebuild struggling democratic...
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From treaty to trust: The next chapter in the Australia–PNG relationship
Despite being close neighbours, Australia and Papua New Guinea have only recently become formal allies through the Pukpuk Treaty. But what does this new alliance mean beyond government-to-government ties? In this episode of Lowy Institute Conversations, Dominic De Moura McCarthy, President and...
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Pacific unity on the line: The 2026 PIF Leaders' Meeting
As the 55th Pacific Islands Forum Leaders' Meeting opens in Palau, the region faces a series of major challenges. These include a Chinese missile test that the Forum couldn’t agree to condemn, a contested region-wide security treaty, Taiwan's return to the Forum, an El Niño event, and a global…
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The Pacific’s deep-sea fault line
As great powers race for the critical minerals scattered on the ocean floor, the Pacific is splitting into two camps — those betting on deep-sea mining as an economic lifeline, and those warning the environmental risks are too great. In this episode of Lowy Institute Conversations, Dr Connor…
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Stabilisation with caveats: Former ambassador Graham Fletcher on the Australia–China relationship
China blocked trade, froze out ministers, and left lobsters rotting on the tarmac, and still couldn't force Australia to budge. In this episode of Lowy Institute Conversations, former Australian ambassador to Beijing Graham Fletcher joins Research Director Mihai Sora to discuss what…
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Are we entering a new illiberal order?
The way authoritarian and illiberal states interact has changed. China, Russia, Iran and North Korea have gone from defending themselves against perceived liberal pressure to actively building the institutions of an alternative order. In this episode of Lowy Institute Conversations, Nick Bisley,...
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Neighbours, not family: Rethinking Australia’s Pacific story
Australia calls itself the Pacific's partner of choice. But is the relationship built on mutual understanding, or is it driven by Canberra’s anxiety about China? Professor Joanne Wallis, the author of a new book with Jack Corbett, Neighbours, joins the Lowy Institute’s Serena Sasingian to discuss...
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Australia's Pacific diplomatic blitz and China's missile test
It's been the busiest fortnight in Australia–Pacific diplomacy in recent memory. In the space of ten days, Australia signed the Nakamal Agreement with Vanuatu, the Vuvale Union and a surprise Ocean of Peace Alliance with Fiji, and saw the Pukpuk Treaty with Papua New Guinea come into effect — all...
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The India paradox: Trusted more, but not understood
As India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Australia for the third time, new Lowy Institute polling reveals a curious paradox: Australians now trust India more than the United States or China, yet many Australians can't name its leader. The Lowy Institute’s Dr Ram Sethi Fellow, Dhruva...
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Southeast Asia in the crossfire: Can ASEAN hold the line?
Southeast Asia has always sat at the intersection of great power competition, but the pressures bearing down on the region today are testing its institutions, alliances and sense of common purpose like never before. Since the United States went to war with Iran and blockaded the Strait of Hormuz,...
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The nuclear arms race nobody is talking about
The New START Treaty has expired, China is quadrupling its nuclear arsenal, and the Trump administration has yet to prioritise arms control. Rose Gottemoeller, a former chief US negotiator of New START and ex-Deputy Secretary General of NATO, speaks with the Lowy Institute’s Sam Roggeveen about…
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The West's systemic failure to learn from modern war
"On pretty much every measure, Putin is failing and he doesn't really have a lot of options moving forward." Russia is losing ground, its defence industry has plateaued, and Ukraine is striking deeper into Russian territory than at any point in the war. So what does that mean for how the conflict...
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Australia’s sports diplomacy playbook
Sport can be one of the great unifying forces in international affairs. But is Australia making the most of its opportunities off the field? In this episode, Andrew Griffits speaks with Mark Falvo, Interim CEO of Netball Australia and one of Australia’s most experienced sporting administrators,...
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Myanmar at a crossroads: Five years after the coup
Myanmar has been in a state of violent upheaval since the military seized power in 2021, leading to a nationwide resistance and the collapse of vital state functions. Myanmar’s parliament recently convened for the first time in five years, with the former commander-in-chief Min Aung Hlaing...
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Trump-Xi summit: Has America abandoned strategic competition with China?
On the eve of the upcoming Trump-Xi summit, Donald Trump's approach to China looks less like strategic competition and more like a search for a deal. In this episode, Richard McGregor speaks with Lowy Institute Nonresident Fellow and former Biden White House official, Thomas Wright, about what…
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Catching up and pulling ahead: Inside America’s 2025 China report
For years, the conventional wisdom held that the United States retained a decisive lead over China in the technologies and industries that will define the 21st century. The 2025 report of the US–China Economic and Security Review Commission to Congress challenges that view, and its conclusions…
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The decline of the West: Samir Puri on “Westlessness” and the new global order
Samir Puri, former UK diplomat and author of Westlessness: The Great Global Rebalancing, joins Transnational Challenges Program Director Lydia Khalil to explore the long decline of Western dominance in world affairs. They discuss why the rise of the non-West is about far more than China's…
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Strait of Hormuz crisis: Iran, shipping, and Australia's strategy
When Iran deterred shipping from the Strait of Hormuz following Operation Epic Fury, it sent shockwaves through global energy markets and exposed uncomfortable truths about Australia's dependence on maritime trade. Jennifer Parker, a Nonresident Fellow at the Lowy Institute and former Royal...
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Globalisation always wins: Parag Khanna on the emerging world order, Iran, and Asia's multipolar future
Geopolitical strategist Parag Khanna joins the Lowy Institute's Sam Roggeveen to make sense of a world in flux. In a wide-ranging conversation recorded on the day President Trump declared the Iran war nearly over, the pair discuss what the conflict reveals about multipolarity, why Mark Carney's...
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British MP Darren Jones on Labour, Brexit and the United Kingdom's place in the world
British Cabinet Minister the Rt Hon Darren Jones MP joins the Lowy Institute’s Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove AM for a wide-ranging conversation about politics, power and the transatlantic relationship. Serving as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Minister for Intergovernmental...
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The ungoverned sky: Drones and the domestic extremist threat
Drone technology is now more accessible than ever. What was once the exclusive domain of state actors now falls within reach of nearly anyone with a credit card and a data signal. Domestic extremists are no exception — they are increasingly incorporating drones into attack plots, taking…
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One more in a series of shocks: What the Iran conflict reveals about modern geoeconomics
Lowy Institute Lead Economist Roland Rajah and Nonresident Fellow Jenny Gordon discuss the economic implications of the expanding conflict in Iran. They put recent events in context, unpacking how we should understand and address the ongoing geoeconomic shocks. More episodes of the Lowy…
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Women, security, power and policy
To mark International Women’s Day, Lowy Institute fellows Susannah Patton and Serena Sasingian speak with Lydia Khalil in a wide-ranging discussion on women in international relations. They explore how gender equality strategies fit into realist power politics, how the global rise of “strongman”...
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Carney's rupture: Rethinking the rules-based order
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney delivered a frank and impassioned speech at this year's World Economic Forum at Davos. He argued that in an era of great power competition, middle powers can no longer afford to maintain the fiction of a rules-based order. While never calling out President…
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Extremism expert: Rising misogyny is fuelling political violence worldwide
Professor Cynthia Miller-Idriss is a globally recognised expert on violent extremism and prevention, based at American University in Washington, DC. She is the author of a new book, Man Up: The New Misogyny and the Rise of Violent Extremism, which explores how misogyny is driving a surge in...
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Recast: US Senator Chris Coons on President Trump, AUKUS and the future of the Democratic Party
As part of the Lowy Institute Recast series, we are republishing the best podcasts of 2025. In case you missed them the first time around or if you want revisit these engaging conversations, the Recast series has you covered. US Senator Chris Coons joined the Lowy Institute's Executive Director…
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Recast: His Father’s Son — The Xi family and the Future of China
As part of the Lowy Institute Recast series, we are republishing the best podcasts of 2025. In case you missed them the first time around or if you want revisit these engaging conversations, the Recast series has you covered. Understanding Xi Jinping and what drives him has become a global…
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Recast: Cold War prophet
As part of the Lowy Institute Recast series, we are republishing the best podcasts of 2025. In case you missed them the first time around or if you want revisit these engaging conversations, the Recast series has you covered. In this episode, Edward Luce, Financial Times columnist and author of...
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Recast: Russia's interests in Southeast Asia
As part of the Lowy Institute Recast series, we are republishing the best podcasts of 2025. In case you missed them the first time around or if you want revisit these engaging conversations, the Recast series has you covered. Last year, reports emerged of Russia seeking to base military aircraft…
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Recast: How China won and lost America
As part of the Lowy Institute Recast series, we are republishing the best podcasts of 2025. In case you missed them the first time around or if you want revisit these engaging conversations, the Recast series has you covered. Lowy Institute Senior Fellow Richard McGregor talks with American...
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Recast: The future of the Five Eyes
As part of the Lowy Institute Recast series, we are republishing the best podcasts of 2025. In case you missed them the first time around or if you want revisit these engaging conversations, the Recast series has you covered. In this episode, host Lydia Khalil speaks with former US Ambassador and...
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Recast: Russia, Trump, and the Ukraine war, with Mick Ryan
As part of the Lowy Institute Recast series, we are republishing the best podcasts of 2025. In case you missed them the first time around or if you want revisit these engaging conversations, the Recast series has you covered. Retired Australian Army General Mick Ryan is one of the most…
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City Diplomacy: The role of cities in international relations
Foreign policy is dominated by nation states and international organisations. Yet municipalities are rarely thought of as having a seat at the geopolitical table. Ika Trijsburg, Director of Urban Analytics at the Australian National University, speaks with the Lowy Institute’s Lydia Khalil about...
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Conversations: Small but mighty — Lessons from Baltic national security officials
Since Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the world has come to better recognise the geopolitical importance of the Baltic states. In this episode of Conversations, Executive Director Michael Fullilove is joined by Deividas Matulionis, Chief National Security Adviser to the President of...
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Conversations: A Curious Diplomat
Is there an Australian way of diplomacy? How can Australia navigate an increasingly complicated and dangerous world? The Lowy Institute’s Research Director David Dutton speaks with former senior diplomat Lachlan Strahan about his new memoir The Curious Diplomat, in which he takes readers inside…
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Conversations: Inside COP30 — A former climate envoy on the United States’ absence and the future of global cooperation
This month, the world gathered in the Amazonian city of Belém for COP30, the UN’s annual climate summit. It was the first time in 30 years that the United States was absent from the talks. Todd Stern, former US Special Envoy for Climate Change under President Obama, spoke to the Lowy Institute’s...
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Conversations: A Pacific Eyes intelligence-sharing agreement
The Pacific Islands face converging transnational and geopolitical threats, yet existing intelligence exchanges are fragmented and inadequate to meet the scale of these challenges. The Lowy Institute’s Oliver Nobetau and Mihai Sora discuss a new policy proposal to create a Pacific Eyes agreement…
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Conversations: Trump, Albanese and critical minerals
What exactly is the nature of the deal struck between the US and Australian governments on critical minerals? How is it different to the agreements Washington later signed with Southeast Asian countries? And why are we worried about supplies of (not very) rare earths anyway? Explore the economics...
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Conversations: Australia and the UN Security Council
During his visit to the UN in September, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese re-declared Australia’s bid for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council for 2029–30. But winning a seat on the world’s apex body is not assured, and the Council itself is facing a crisis of confidence. The Lowy...
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His Father’s Son: The Xi family and the Future of China.
Understanding Xi Jinping and what drives him has become a global cottage industry. According to US China scholar Joseph Torigian, one of the keys to understanding Xi Jinping is his father, Xi Zhongxun. How did Xi Senior influence Xi Junior? And what lessons can be drawn from the father for…
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Conversations: Critical meeting, critical minerals — Trump and Albanese meet in Washington
The long-awaited meeting between US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has finally happened. Lowy Institute Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove talks with Lydia Khalil and gives his take on the meeting’s outcomes and what it means for the US–Australia alliance. See...
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Conversations: Whither global leadership on counter-terrorism?
Until his retirement from government this year, Nick Rasmussen has worked in counter-terrorism and countering violent extremism under successive Republican and Democratic administrations in the United States since the September 11 attacks in 2001, including under the first Trump administration.…
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Conversations: Pukpuk, Indonesia, and the Philippines-Taiwan connection
Join Sam Roggeveen and Interpreter Managing Editor Daniel Flitton for a conversation about what we covered this month in Australia’s best foreign affairs magazine, The Interpreter. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Conversations: First among equals — How the US should adjust to a multipolar world
Washington’s foreign policy establishment is still reluctant to internalise the fact that the United States has entered a multipolar era, says Emma Ashford, Senior Fellow at the Stimson Center. In this conversation, Ashford talks with the Lowy Institute’s Sam Roggeveen about her new book, First...
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Conversations: Understanding influence in Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia is one of the most geopolitically diverse and contested regions of the world. But does China or the United States have more influence? And is it even accurate to describe the region’s geopolitics in these terms? Research Director Hervé Lemahieu talks with two of the authors of the...
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Conversations: Understanding global democratic decline
We're in a global democratic recession. Not only is the number of democratic nations in decline, but so are democratic institutions and norms. What's going on? Sam Roggeveen talks with Lydia Khalil, co-author of the Lowy Institute's newest interactive, Understanding Democratic Erosion, about the...
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Conversations: The Beijing parade, controversy in the Pacific, wither the Quad, and nuclear reactors on the Moon — This month in The Interpreter
Join Lydia Khalil and Interpreter Managing Editor Daniel Flitton for a conversation about what we covered this month in Australia’s best foreign affairs magazine, The Interpreter. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Conversations: Mick Ryan on Trump's Ukraine folly
The Trump–Putin summit in Alaska left the Russian leader smiling and the United States without concrete results, says Lowy Institute Senior Fellow for Military Studies Mick Ryan. In this conversation, Sam Roggeveen asks Mick Ryan about the battlefield situation in Ukraine and the lessons of the…
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How can we eliminate terrorist and violent extremist content online?
The 2019 Christchurch terror attacks tragically highlighted how online capabilities can be exploited by bad actors. Since that time, there has been a concerted global effort by governments, tech companies and civil society to come together to mitigate these risks. But online extremism is a...
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Conversations: Indonesian foreign policy under President Prabowo
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto has travelled relentlessly since his inauguration in October 2024. Yet questions remain about the direction of Indonesian foreign policy under his leadership. How will Indonesia manage its relationships with China, the United States and Russia? And what role...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Welcome to Lowy Institute Conversations – a podcast in which Lowy Institute researchers and some of the world’s leading experts delve into the big issues in international affairs.
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Lowy Institute
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Lowy Institute Conversations currently has 100 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Lowy Institute Conversations about?
Welcome to Lowy Institute Conversations – a podcast in which Lowy Institute researchers and some of the world’s leading experts delve into the big issues in international affairs.
How often does Lowy Institute Conversations release new episodes?
Lowy Institute Conversations has 100 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
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Lowy Institute Conversations is created and hosted by Lowy Institute.
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