Lowy Institute

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 the Trump–Xi summit reveals, why the 2025 tariff war ended badly for Washington, and how the Democratic Party is reckoning with its own foreign policy legacy. Wright also makes the case that the world now faces not one American foreign policy, but two — and must plan accordingly. You can access Tom Wright’s Lowy Institute Paper Inflection Point: Biden, Trump, and the Future World Order here: https://www.lowyinstitute.org/publications/inflection-point-biden-trump-future-world-order More episodes of the Lowy Institute's podcasts are available on your favourite podcast apps, including Spotify, YouTube and Apple. Follow the Lowy Institute on our website, X, Instagram or LinkedIn.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 make for sobering reading. Ahead of the Trump–Xi summit where trade and technology are on the table, the Commission finds that China has not only caught up with but in multiple sectors now leads advanced economies including the United States. From electric vehicles and solar panels to quantum computing pathways and pharmaceutical supply chains, Beijing’s combination of state direction, entrepreneurial competition, and sustained investment has produced results that Western policymakers are only beginning to reckon with. In this episode, the Lowy Institute's Richard McGregor speaks with Randy Schriver and Mike Kuiken — vice-chairs of the Commission — about what their report found and what it means. They discuss China’s model of directed innovation, the case for a consolidated US economic statecraft entity, the multiple “choke points” China now holds over industrialised economies, and what sustained engagement in the Pacific, including by Australia, must look like to be effective. They also assess the military situation around Taiwan and the second-order implications of the ongoing conflict with Iran. Randy Schriver served as Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs in the first Trump administration. Mike Kuiken is a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution and a former senior adviser to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. More episodes of the Lowy Institute's podcasts are available on your favourite podcast apps, including Spotify, YouTube and Apple. Follow the Lowy Institute on our website, X, Instagram or LinkedIn.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 challenge to the United States, and how the BRICS bloc is reshaping global networks. They also explore what a more multipolar world means for a country like Australia — Western by heritage, but increasingly embedded in Asia. More episodes of the Lowy Institute's podcasts are available on your favourite podcast apps, including Spotify, YouTube and Apple. Follow the Lowy Institute on our website, X, Instagram or LinkedIn.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 Australian Navy warfare officer, joins Research Fellow Charlie Lyons-Jones to explain what a naval blockade means for the crisis. They also unpack Australia’s new National Defence Strategy and discuss why Australia’s surface combatant fleet is the smallest it's been since the 1950s. This episode was recorded on Wednesday 15 April 2026. More episodes of the Lowy Institute's podcasts are available on your favourite podcast apps, including Spotify, YouTube and Apple. Follow the Lowy Institute on our website, X, Instagram or LinkedIn.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 Davos speech resonated more than expected, and why every attempt to unwind globalisation ends up deepening it. More episodes of the Lowy Institute's podcasts are available on your favourite podcast apps, including Spotify, YouTube and Apple. Follow the Lowy Institute on our website, X, Instagram or LinkedIn.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 Relations, and Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister, Jones is one of the most senior figures in PM Keir Starmer's government. In this episode, Darren Jones and Michael Fullilove discuss the MP’s rise from a council estate in Bristol to the Cabinet table, the lessons UK Labour learned from Hawke and Keating, and why people shouldn't underestimate Keir Starmer. They also cover the challenge posed by Nigel Farage's Reform UK party, the long shadow of Brexit, how Britain navigates its alliance with President Trump's America, and the strategic logic of AUKUS. More episodes of the Lowy Institute's podcasts are available on your favourite podcast apps, including Spotify, YouTube and Apple. Follow the Lowy Institute on our website, X, Instagram or LinkedIn.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 inspiration from the battlefield. Violent plots utilising drones have increased sharply over the past five years, but governments are underprepared. In this episode, the Lowy Institute’s James Paterson and Lydia Khalil discuss their policy paper, The ungoverned sky: Drones and the domestic extremist threat, and outline their recommendations for how to address this growing challenge. More episodes of the Lowy Institute's podcasts are available on your favourite podcast apps, including Spotify, YouTube and Apple. Follow the Lowy Institute on our website, X, Instagram or LinkedIn.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 Institute's podcasts are available on your favourite podcast apps, including Spotify, YouTube and Apple. Follow the Lowy Institute on our website, X, Instagram or LinkedIn.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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” politics is threatening hard-won gains for women worldwide, and the relationship between gender equality and national power. They also reflect on their own careers and offer ideas for what meaningful progress could look like. More episodes of the Lowy Institute's podcasts are available on your favourite podcast apps, including Spotify, YouTube and Apple. Follow the Lowy Institute on our website, X, Instagram or LinkedIn.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 Trump by name, Carney highlighted the broader “rupture" in the global order. Speaking with the Lowy Institute's Sam Roggeveen, Lydia Khalil discusses the value of rhetoric and dissects how Carney's remarks are being viewed in Canberra and other world capitals. While it has been much talked about, will Carney's speech shift how middle powers coordinate globally? More episodes of the Lowy Institute's podcasts are available on your favourite podcast apps, including Spotify, YouTube and Apple. Follow the Lowy Institute on our website, X, Instagram or LinkedIn. Follow Sam Roggeveen on X and LinkedIn. Follow Lydia Khalil on LinkedIn. More on this topic “Principled and pragmatic: Canada’s path”, Prime Minister Carney addresses the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting “A rupture, not a transition”:Carney’s new order, Sam Roggeveen, The Interpreter Nato without America: Europe ‘thinks the unthinkable’, Ben Hall and Henry Foy, Financial Times  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 extremist violence throughout the West. Speaking with the Lowy Institute's Lydia Khalil, Professor Miller-Idriss explains the five tactics of misogyny in extremist movements, why Gen Z men are increasingly rejecting women's rights, and what a public health approach to prevention looks like in practice. More episodes of the Lowy Institute's podcasts are available on your favourite podcast apps, including Spotify, YouTube and Apple. Follow the Lowy Institute on our website, X, Instagram or LinkedIn. Follow Lydia Khalil on LinkedIn.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 Dr Michael Fullilove at the Institute's Bligh Street headquarters for a special episode of Lowy Institute Conversations. They discussed US President Donald Trump's forthcoming meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the first 200 days of President Trump's foreign policy, AUKUS, defence spending, and Senator Coons' optimism about the Democrats’ electoral prospects in 2028.  This episode was first published 15 August 2025.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 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 today’s policymaking? Torigian speaks with the Lowy Institute’s Richard McGregor about his new biography, The Party’s Interests Come First. This episode was first published on 24 October 2025.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 Zbig, a new biography of US President Jimmy Carter’s national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski, talks with Sam Roggeveen. They discuss Zbig’s stature as a foreign policy sage, his friendship and rivalry with Henry Kissinger, and what remains of the Washington foreign policy establishment that Zbig symbolised. This episode was first published on 10 July 2025.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 at Indonesia’s Manuhua Airforce Base. While the request was rejected by Indonesia, it raises a broader question: what are Russia’s interests in Southeast Asia and how should Australia respond to its attempts to seek access to military facilities in the region? In this podcast, Lowy Institute Research Fellow Rahman Yaacob and Ian Storey, Senior Fellow at the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, talk with host Sam Roggeveen about the significance of these events and Russia's ambitions. This episode was first published on 4 June 2025.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 sinologist Professor David Shambaugh about his latest book, Breaking the Engagement, which charts the rise and fall of Washington’s engagement strategy with China. They discuss the original aims of the strategy, why it failed, and what lessons Australia can draw. This episode was first published on 3 July 2025.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 Director-General of ASIO Dennis Richardson and Interpreter Managing Editor Daniel Flitton, about the Five Eyes — the powerful and strategically important intelligence sharing alliance. Its member countries, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, have sustained and protected one of the world's most unified multilateral arrangements for more than 75 years. But even the Five Eyes may not avoid the wrecking ball that is the second Trump administration. This episode was first published on 1 May 2025.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 influential and prolific analysts of the Ukraine war. This conversation with Sam Roggeveen, Director of the International Security Program, was intended as a reflection on the three-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion, but instead becomes a much broader and deeper conversation about the sensational diplomatic events of the last few weeks, and about America’s role in the world under Trump. This episode was first published on 21 February 2025.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 how international engagements, conversations, and even negotiations are happening at a city level, as well as the role of cities in addressing global issues.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 Lithuania, Airis Rikveilis, National Security Adviser to the Prime Minister of Latvia, and Liina Areng, Director of EU CyberNet. Our guests address the war in Ukraine, hybrid threats, and the tightening of connections between authoritarian states.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 the world of Australian diplomacy. In their conversation, Lachlan shares anecdotes and experiences, and reflects on how Australian diplomacy has shifted along with a changing world.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 Ryan Neelam on the ground in Belém about the impact of the US withdrawal from talks, the big issues at COP30, and the challenges and benefits of addressing climate change through multilateral frameworks.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 — a dedicated intelligence-sharing framework that could transform regional security cooperation. You can read about the Pacific Eyes intelligence-sharing agreement here: https://www.lowyinstitute.org/publications/pacific-eyes-intelligence-sharing-agreementSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 and politics with the Lowy Institute's Sam Roggeveen and Robert Walker. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 Institute’s Ryan Neelam speaks with former Australian Ambassador to the UN Gary Quinlan AO about the state of the Security Council today, the case for Australia’s bid, and the impact Australia could have on global peace and security as an elected member.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 today’s policymaking? Torigian speaks with the Lowy Institute’s Richard McGregor about his new biography, The Party’s Interests Come First.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.  In this conversation, the Lowy Institute’s Lydia Khalil speaks with Nick about the significant changes the Trump administration has made to CT/CVE policy and how allies can adjust. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.

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 Among Equals, and the urgent need for a more realistic American foreign policy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 newly launched Southeast Asia Influence Index, Susannah Patton and Rahman Yaacob.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 complex dynamics and whether there is a way back.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bougainville has set 2027 as the deadline to declare independence from Papua New Guinea. But the economic and institutional foundations of sovereignty in the autonomous region remain fragile. In this episode of Pacific Change Makers, the Lowy Institute’s Director of the Pacific Islands Program Mihai Sora speaks with Oliver Nobetau, Director of the Aus–PNG Network Project, about the roadmap needed to ensure Bougainville’s future prosperity.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.

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 war for the Asia-Pacific.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 persistent challenge. The Institute's Lydia Khalil talks with Paul Ash, Chief Executive of the Christchurch Call Foundation(christchurchcall.org), about evolving online threats and how global coordination is becoming more complicated.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 will it play within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)? In this episode, the Institute's Susannah Patton discusses these questions with Dr Dino Patti Djalal, founder of the Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia, and former Indonesian Ambassador to the United States.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

US Senator Chris Coons joined the Lowy Institute's Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove at the Institute's Bligh Street headquarters for a special episode of Lowy Institute Conversations. They discussed US President Donald Trump's forthcoming meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the first 200 days of President Trump's foreign policy, AUKUS, defence spending, and Senator Coons' optimism about the Democrats’ electoral prospects in 2028. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Washington says the Pacific is a critical arena for strategic competition, yet recent US actions suggest otherwise. In this episode, the Institute’s Mihai Sora talks with Dr Charles Edel, Australia Chair at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, and Kathryn Paik, Senior Fellow and Deputy Director with the Australia Chair, about America’s Pacific drawdown, what’s at stake for US and regional security, and whether Australia and its partners are ready, or able, to hold the line. You can find a complete archive of all our Lowy Institute publications including our podcasts here: https://www.lowyinstitute.org/publicationsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Traditionally, Australian governments have tried to pursue the relationships with its main trading partner and its security guarantor in parallel. Now that the dynamics are becoming increasingly intertwined, how will Australia make its way forward? Lowy Institute Program Director Sam Roggeveen and Senior Fellow for East Asia Richard McGregor discuss Australian PM Anthony Albanese’s recent six-day visit to China and outline what it signals about Australia’s relationship, not only with Beijing, but with Washington and regional neighbours.  You can find a complete archive of all our Lowy Institute podcasts here:  https://www.lowyinstitute.org/publications?keys=&author=All&type=194&issues=All&related_issueSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Join Sam Roggeveen and Dan Flitton for a conversation about what was covered this week on Australia’s best foreign policy magazine, The Interpreter.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, Edward Luce, Financial Times columnist and author of Zbig, a new biography of US President Jimmy Carter’s national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski, talks with Sam Roggeveen. They discuss Zbig’s stature as a foreign policy sage, his friendship and rivalry with Henry Kissinger, and what remains of the Washington foreign policy establishment that Zbig symbolised.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lowy Institute Senior Fellow Richard McGregor talks with American sinologist Professor David Shambaugh about his latest book, Breaking the Engagement, which charts the rise and fall of Washington’s engagement strategy with China. They discuss the original aims of the strategy, why it failed, and what lessons Australia can draw.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Institute’s Director of Research Hervé Lemahieu and Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove discuss the US and Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, Iran’s response, and the uncertainty of a reported ceasefire. They analyse the strategic stakes, the role of diplomacy and international institutions, and the risks and advantages of President Donald Trump’s unpredictability.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Earlier this year, reports emerged of Russia seeking to base military aircraft at Indonesia’s Manuhua Airforce Base. While the request was rejected by Indonesia, it raises a broader question: what are Russia’s interests in Southeast Asia and how should Australia respond to its attempts to seek access to military facilities in the region? In this podcast, Lowy Institute Research Fellow Rahman Yaacob and Ian Storey, Senior Fellow at the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, talk with host Sam Roggeveen about the significance of these events and Russia's ambitions.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Join Sam Roggeveen and Managing Editor Daniel Flitton for a conversation about what we covered this week in Australia’s best foreign affairs magazine, The Interpreter. Further reading: Sadly, Russia’s mercenary verdict means Oscar Jenkins won’t be coming home anytime soon by Donald Rothwell Why Oscar Jenkins’ trial in the Luhansk People’s Republic is a sham by Shannon Bosch US troops in Korea may soon switch focus from Pyongyang to Beijing by Gabriela Bernal The CPTPP dilemma: Economic merit versus geopolitical calculation by Peter Varghese Abnormal states: Kashmir between empire, insurgency, and intrigue by Abhijnan RejSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, we bring you highlights of a recent Lowy Institute event on the future of warfare. Christian Brose, President and Chief Strategy Officer of Anduril Industries, and Sam Roggeveen, Director of the Lowy Institute’s International Security Program discuss the key trends in modern warfare revealed through the world’s ongoing armed conflicts. They share their thoughts on how any future wars between major powers are likely to be fought.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Anthony Albanese has been returned as Australia’s prime minister in a landslide. In this episode, Program Directors Mihai Sora and Susannah Patton speak with host Lydia Khalil about what that means for the region. They discuss how Albanese’s re-election is being received in the Pacific and Southeast Asia and examine the continuities, opportunities and challenges for Australia’s foreign policy over the government’s second term.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, host Lydia Khalil speaks with former US Ambassador and Director-General of ASIO Dennis Richardson and Interpreter Managing Editor Daniel Flitton, about the Five Eyes — the powerful and strategically important intelligence sharing alliance. Its member countries, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, have sustained and protected one of the world's most unified multilateral arrangements for more than 75 years. But even the Five Eyes may not avoid the wrecking ball that is the second Trump administration.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With US President Donald Trump unleashing a blitz of policy changes in his first few months in office and an Australian federal election just ahead, the Lowy Institute has released selected results from the 2025 Lowy Institute Poll. The findings provide a snapshot of how Trump is changing Australian attitudes towards the United States, and on Australians’ confidence in their political leaders’ foreign policy abilities. Ryan Neelam, Director of Public Opinion and Foreign Policy, talks with host Lydia Khalil to put these early poll results into context.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.