All Episodes
Views from Down Underer — 96 episodes
Ep. 96: RNZAF P-8 in East China Sea, leaked email of NZ PM, arts and politics
Ep. 95: Hungarian election results and NZ's National Party woes
Ep. 94: US-Israel-Iran conflict (week 5 and counting); NZ-Cook Island security pact; Survey shows young Aussies dissatisfied with democracy
Ep. 93: Continuing US-Israel conflict with Iran, closing of Strait of Hormuz
Ep. 92: Carney in Australia, Iran conflict, NZ PM’s polling numbers
Ep. 91: Iran attacked by US and Israel
Ep. 90: Munich Security Conference, China as a green superpower, Ex-South Korean President given life sentence
Ep. 89: NZ-India FTA, Japan's LDP wins, AI and jobs
Ep. 88: Canadian PM Carney's 2026 World Economic Forum speech
Ep.87: Thailand and Cambodia border conflict (again), Thai calls for new general election
Ep. 86: China-Japan spat, NZ MPs sent warning letter by PRC envoy, MAGA's MTG resigning from US Congress
Ep. 85: Learning a foreign language: opening minds, appreciating cultures, building self-confidence, creating opportunities
Ep. 84: ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur and APEC meeting in Seoul
Ep. 83: Trading democracy off for desirable outcomes?
Ep 82: Australia-PNG security pact and Australia-Vanuatu security and development pact
Ep.81: Russian drones over Poland, Hyundai plant raided by immigration agents
Ep. 80: Impressions from the conference we hosted, US rebranding Pentagon to Department of War
Ep. 79: Putin-Trump Alaska summit and Chinese ship collision in the South China Sea
Ep 78: Geoeconomics and USTR Greer's New York Times guest essay
Ep. 77: Thailand-Cambodia border skirmishes, Japan's LDP loses upper house majority, Taiwan's recall election
Ep. 76: Tariff letters, Australian FM speech in Kuala Lumpur, and other interesting news
Ep. 75: China-EU meeting, China pressuring to not show a South China Sea documentary, Thailand cabinet reshuffle and continuing political drama
Ep. 74: US bombs Iran and Thailand PM pressured to resign over leaked phone call
Ep. 73: Israel-Iran conflict, NZ PM's upcoming Beijing visit, Pentagon reviews AUKUS, US Army day parade
Ep. 72: South Korean election, California vs US federal government spat, Thailand-Cambodia border dispute
Ep. 71: Macron and Hegseth speeches at the 2025 Shangrila Dialogue
Ep. 70: US Navy ship visit NZ, Philippine midterm elections, US reducing forces in Korea
Ep. 69: IR scholar Joe Nye, Pope Leo XIV, Asia's dollar demand, US orders intelligence gathering of Greenland
Ep. 68: General Elections in Canada, Australia, and Singapore
Ep. 67: NZ FM's East-West Center speech, Trump and Zelensky meets in Vatican, Foreign interference warnings in Singapore's general election campaign period
Ep. 66: About the 2025 State of Southeast Asia Survey by ISEAS Singapore
Ep. 65: Liberation day to liquidation day: Tariffs, market crash, and global economy
Ep. 64: South Korean president removed from office, White House launched massive tariffs
Ep. 63: Ex-Philippine president Duterte ICC arrest and RNZAF P-8 Poseidon
Ep. 62: Update on Panama Canal deal, NZ PM Luxon's India visit, update on Ukraine-Russia
Ep. 61: German defense spending, India comments on postwar order, China complains about port deals
Ep. 60: Canada as canary in the coal mine? Tariffs, trade war, and Ukraine
Ep. 59: CDU tops German elections but AfD made gains; Rumble in the Oval Office
Episode 58: US-Russia meeting in Saudi Arabia, PLA Navy nearby, Cook Islands update
Episode 57: Era of Stick Power in International Relations? Vance in Munich, NZ-Cook Island spat
Episode 56: Trump foreign policy, Gaza proposal, Panama Canal, and Malaysia's ASEAN chairmanship thus far
Episode 55: Trump's first week back as US president
Episode 54: Biden's farewell address, Gaza ceasefire, India 'acknowledging' an assassination plot, Polish general fired over landmines in IKEA, and US Defsec nominee has poor knowledge of SEA
Episode 53: Greenland contingency and Indonesia joins BRICS
Episode 52: Elon Musk on UK politics, Trudeau resignation, Houthis and China
Episode 51: Democratic Ceilings: Why democracies can stagnate.
Episode 50: News review and news surprises of 2024 and what to watch out for in 2025
Episode 49: Trouble spots: Syria and Europe
Episode 48: Political Crisis in South Korea
Episode 47: Political punitivism and political revenge in South Korea
Episode 46: Notes from our Taiwan study tour
Episode 45: US elections 2024: crystal ball-gazing on foreign policy
Episode 44: US Elections 2024 -- Republicans win
Episode 43: Clash of Two Gilded Ages and the US presidential election polls
Episode 42: North Korean soldiers in Ukraine, Impending 'betrayal' of Ukraine? The Age of De-population, Japan's LDP loses its majority
Episode 41: Elon Musk giving $1M to Pennsylvania voters, Indonesian presidential inauguration, Trump works in a MacDonalds
Episode 40: Great power rivalry and implications for Southeast Asia and America losing Southeast Asia to China?
Episode 39: Hezbollah-Israel conflict, US strategy in the Mideast, Sikh referendum in NZ, RNZN ship sinks in Samoa
Episode 38: Asia Power index, China and changing power in East Asia talk by Prof Robert Ross of Boston College
Episode 37: Research on Pacific maritime spaces, Harris/Trump debate, US electoral battleground states
Episode 36: Indonesia-China the next stoush in the South China Sea, a possible standoff between the Global South and China and Pope Francis in Southeast Asia
Episode 35: Danger of planning for peaked China? US urged to dropped obsession of being Number 1
Episode 34: Japan PM Kishida steps down, Thailand has new PM, Jokowi maneuvering behind the scenes, and NZ PM Luxon's speech at Lowy in Sydney
Episode 33: Hullaballoo of the upcoming US elections: observations from the ground
Episode 32: Geography, International Relations Theory, and Understanding the International Relations of the Asia-Pacific
Episode 31: UK Foreign Minister visits India, Trump playing the race card again, Central Bank and the inflation-interest rate conundrum
Episode 30: Joe Biden out and Kamala Harris in, Bangladesh riots, Japan's population decline, NZ PM's low approval rating, and Olympic spying scandal
Episode 29: Modi visits Putin and the continuing saga of the US election campaign season
Episode 28: UK 2024 general election: Another one bites the dust? Or too hard to say I am sorry?
Episode 27: Fallout of the Biden/Trump debate, Russia-North Korea defense pact, China feared and US humble
Episode 26: NZ's "independent" foreign policy? Modi's Taiwan overtures? The end of petrodollars?
Episode 25: Shangri-La dialogue wrap up, India's surprise election result, and North Korean trash balloons
Episode 24: Divine Modi? Dangerous rhetoric in Indian election, Marcos Jr draws a red line, and Trump convicted
Episode 23: Economic limits to US exceptionalism, undermining rules based order, UK election
Episode 22: UK to out-cooperate in foreign affairs, Putin-Xi meeting, Indian spies in Australia, spy for a mayor?
Episode 21: Misunderstanding Asian states and Democracy, Autocracy and the State of the World
Episode 20: Double-standard in foreign policy? Most revolutionary period in history?
Episode 19: Iran retaliates against Israel and Post-Globalization, Mercantilism 2.0, and the Three Body Problem
Episode 18: The State of Southeast Asia 2024 Survey Report and Some News Updates
Episode 17: Moscow terror attack, China's economic headaches, democracy index, and bible salesman
Episode 16: Mr. Peters goes to New Delhi and Southeast Asia and China's FM Wang Yi drops by Wellington
Episode 15: Prabowo presidency in Indonesia and Taylor Swift's concerts in Singapore
Episode 14: AUS-NZ Ministerial meetings, Indonesian election cartoons, spy pigeons, Nevada primary
Episode 13: Taiwan's 2024 elections: democracy has won, the people have spoken, now what's next
Episode 12: Attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and what to watch out for in 2024
Episode 11: Biden-Xi face to face meeting ahead of APEC Summit in San Francisco: Is this a meeting of two desperados?
Episode 10: Jokowi’s legacy, Indonesia’s regional leadership potential, Modi and India’s Middle East policy
Episode 9: New Economic Security State or New Great Power Protectionism
Episode 8: NZ General Election 2023 and the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza
Episode 7: Another one bites the dust? Prickly toes? Putin-Kim bromance? A brewing India-Canada diplomatic row?
Episode 6: The more the merrier: ASEAN Jakarta Summit, G20 New Delhi Summit, Xi Jinping no-show
Episode 5: US-Korea-Japan leaders’ meeting, BRICS South Africa summit, Middle Power in Global Politics
Episode 4: China-Philippine tension in the South China Sea and Trump’s third indictment
Episode 3: Qin Gang canned; Blinken, Albanese, Macron and the summer South Pacific tour: What’s the buzz...tell me what’s a-happening?
Episode 2: New Zealand’s ’independent foreign policy:’ Walking cool but can it walk the line and face the ties that bind?
Episode 1: NATO and Ukraine, NATO in Asia-Pacific, Betting on India