Mass poverty in Asia and the GFC
In addition to the current Global Financial Crisis (GFC), there is a second global crisis: long-term poverty in the third world. While the rich world worries about a repeat of the Great Depression, today more than a billion people in Asia live in conditions of bitter poverty which are much worse than those of the 1930s. As a result of the GFC, poverty in developing Asia is now likely to increase. In a new Policy Brief, Peter McCawley argues that Australian economic diplomacy should place greater focus on the issue of mass poverty in Asia, and he emphasises the importance of strong economic growth as the best way to help Asia’s poor.
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| Australia's international future |
Wednesday Lunch at Lowy - Dr Michael Wesley presentation At the Wednesday Lowy lunch on 1 July, Dr Michael Wesley, the new Executive Director of the Lowy Institute, talked about the challenges ahead for Australia and the Lowy Institute. The world after the Global Financial Crisis will be a world which asks some very...
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| Media release |
Lowy Institute commends retiring Director-General of AusAID The Lowy Institute for International Policy today commended the retiring Director-General of AusAID, Mr Bruce Davis AM, for his outstanding contribution to Australian development assistance policies and programs.
For more information, please see the...
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| Winston Churchill and Australia |
Distinguished Speaker Series - Graham Freudenberg presentation On Tuesday 30 June the Lowy Institute was pleased to host a lecture in its Distinguished Speaker Series by the author and political adviser Graham Freudenberg AM. The title of the lecture was: 'Australasian Anxieties: How Winston Churchill shaped Australia's...
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| Wicked weapons: North Asia's nuclear tangle |
Wednesday Lunch at Lowy - Rory Medcalf presentation At the Wednesday Lunch at Lowy on 24 June, Rory Medcalf, Program Director International Security, drew upon recent consultations in the region to warn that efforts to reduce global nuclear dangers will founder if they do not account for the rising strategic...
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Going global - Japanese version
In 'Going global: a new Australia-Japan agenda for multilateral cooperation', a Lowy Institute report released on 30 April 2009, supported by the Australia-Japan Foundation, Andrew Shearer and Malcolm Cook proposed a new agenda for multilateral cooperation between Australia and Japan.
That report is now available for download here in Japanese.
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Between defiance and détente: Iran’s 2009 presidential election and its impact on foreign policy
In a new Lowy Institute Analysis, 'Between defiance and détente: Iran’s 2009 presidential election and its impact on foreign policy', Iranian researcher Mahmoud Alinejad looks ahead to the Iranian presidential election on 12 June. He assesses the four candidates’ prospects and analyses the potential impact of the election on key aspects of Iran’s foreign policy, in particular the nuclear issue and relations with the United States.
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Wednesday Lunch at Lowy - Andrew Shearer and Malcolm Cook presentations
At the Wednesday Lowy Lunch on 16 June, Malcolm Cook and Andrew Shearer discussed how the Australia-Japan relationship can help both countries respond to the emerging new order in international relations. This order is characterised by changing global power balances, the move towards a more multi-polar world, and traditional multilateral organisations increasingly unsuited to resolving complex global problems.
Their presentations can be heard here:
Going global: Australia-Japan relations - MP3 (20MB)
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Distinguished Speaker Series - Ambassador de Brichambaut presentation
On 16 June, as part of the Lowy Institute's Distinguished Speaker Series, the Secretary General of the Organization for Security and Co-operation (OSCE) in Europe, Ambassador Marc Perrin de Brichambaut, spoke on the relevance of this body to the Asia-Pacific and what it offers to partners in this region.
His PowerPoint presentation can be downloaded here:
OSCE and the Asia-Pacific - PPT (2MB)
His presentation can be heard here:
OSCE and the Asia-Pacific - MP3 (20MB)
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The pop president
In an opinion piece in The Sydney Morning Herald, Dr Michael Fullilove, Program Director Global Issues, argues that President Obama would do well to borrow from Machiavelli's observation that to be loved is good, to be feared is better.
Sydney Morning Herald, 20-21 June 2009, News Review p. 5
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Wednesday Lunch at Lowy - Professor Robert Lawrence presentation
At the Wednesday Lunch at Lowy on 10 June, Professor Robert Lawrence of Harvard University spoke on the global financial crisis and international trade.
At precisely the time when coordinated global action is required to meet the GFC, there are worrying signs in the US and other leading economies of new forms of protectionism stemming from government stimulus and bailout packages. Professor Lawrence’s address focused on the impact of the global recession and how trade and cooperation will play prominent roles in the recovery.
Professor Lawrence's PowerPoint presentation can be downloaded here:
How will global trade fare post GFC? - PPT (233KB)
His presentation can be heard here:
How will global trade fare post GFC? - MP3 (20MB)
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Wednesday Lunch at Lowy - Anthony Bubalo presentation
At the Wednesday Lunch at Lowy on 3 June 2009, Anthony Bubalo, Director of the West Asia Program at the Lowy Institute, previewed Iran's presidential election on 12 June. He discussed what it will mean for Iran's foreign relations and in particular for the Obama Administration's efforts to engage Tehran.
His presentation can be heard here:
Iran goes to the polls - MP3 (20MB)
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Lowy Institute launches MacArthur Foundation Asian Security Project
The Lowy Institute has launched a major new three-year project to explore the limits of security cooperation in Asia and promote measures to prevent the region's growing strategic rivalries from deepening and escalating into war. The project is supported by a generous grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
For more information please see the following media release.
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Lowy Institute announces new Executive Director
Mr Frank Lowy AC announced today, Monday 18 May, that the board of the Lowy Institute for International Policy had appointed Dr Michael Wesley as its new Executive Director. Dr Wesley succeeds the Institute's Founding Director, Mr Allan Gyngell, who was recently appointed by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to be the next Director General of the Office of National Assessments.
Please see the attached media release for more information.
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Wednesday Lunch at Lowy - Ambassador Martin Indyk presentation
On 27 May, the Lowy Institute was pleased to host, as part of its Wednesday Lowy Lunch series, Martin Indyk, who spoke on his new book 'Innocent Abroad: an Intimate Account of American Peace Diplomacy in the Middle East'.
Ambassador Indyk has a distinguished career in United States foreign policy and the Middle East. He is a Senior Fellow in Foreign Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC, and the Director of the Saban Center for Middle East Policy.
Ambassador Indyk's presentation can be heard here:
Innocent Abroad - MP3 (21MB)
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No need to fear rates this time
In an Economic Briefing in The Australian Financial Review, Lowy Institute Visiting Fellow Stephen Grenville writes that markets expect interest rates to rise next year but that doesn't mean inflation is about to take off.
Australian Financial Review, 15 June 2009, p. 20
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The US and Iran: dare to dance
In an opinion piece in The Sydney Morning Herald, Anthony Bubalo, Program Director West Asia, argues that the outcome of Iran's presidential election could challenge the Obama Administration's hitherto cautious engagement of Iran, even if the outcome of the election does not have a substantive impact on key Iranian policies.
Sydney Morning Herald, 12 June 2009, p. 11
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Distinguished Speaker Series - Robert McClelland presentation
The Lowy Institute was pleased to host, as part of its Distinguished Speaker Series, the Commonwealth Attorney-General, Robert McClelland, who in his presentation, 'Human rights: a moral compass', outlined the Government's approach to human rights and upcoming reforms aimed at strengthening Australia's leadership in this area.
His presentation can be heard here:
Human rights: a moral compass - MP3 (16MB)
A transcript is available for download.
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Troubled waters in need of oil
In an article in leading Indian current affairs magazine Tehelka, Rory Medcalf, coordinator of the Australia-India Roundtable, proposes some ways to deal with the crisis over the safety of Indian students in Australia. The Australian Federal and State governments have responsibilities, as do universities, but the Indian media also has a part to play.
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Australia and Japan: Going global
In new Lowy Institute report, supported by the Australia-Japan Foundation, Andrew Shearer and Malcolm Cook propose a new agenda for multilateral cooperation between Australia and Japan. The growing international weight of Asia and the forces of globalisation are expanding the number of issues states must manage and respond to in new ways. Yet, the traditional multilateral organisations are under growing strain and have proven largely ineffective.
Japan and Australia, as long-standing supporters of an effective multilateral world and complementary powers in Asia, are well placed to cooperate more intensely on a range of multilateral issues and through new groupings like the G-20 and Asia Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate. Australia-Japan cooperation in Iraq from 2004 to 2006 and the International Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmaments are good building blocks. Much more should be done.
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Distinguished Speaker Series - Dr David McCormick presentation
On 26 May, the Lowy Institute was pleased to host a speech in our Distinguished Speaker Series by Dr David McCormick, Distinguished Service Professor of Information Technology, Public Policy and Management at Carnegie Mellon University, on the current state of the world economy.
Dr McCormick's presentation, 'The global economy: how we got here and where we are headed' can be heard here:
The global economy - MP3 (20MB)
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Tackling extreme poverty in Papua New Guinea
The Lowy Institute and CARE Australia convened a conference in Sydney on 14 May 2009 on tackling extreme poverty in Papua New Guinea. The conference brought together politicians, government officials, academics, private sector and non-government experts to explore ways of improving the situation of about one million people living in extreme poverty in Australia’s nearest neighbour. Papua New Guinea’s most disadvantaged communities, who live around the fringes of the highlands and in inland, lowland areas, suffer from very low cash income, limited access to education and health services, poor transport and communications infrastructure, low life expectancy and high child and maternal mortality.
The report of the conference with recommendations for more cooperation between government, NGOs and the private sector to improve the lives of the most disadvantaged communities in Papua New Guinea has been published in this Lowy Institute Perspective.
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Distinguished Speaker Series - Professor Alan Dupont presentation
Is the Rudd Government’s new Defence White Paper more of the same or a significant departure from the previous strategic orthodoxy? More importantly, is it affordable, and will future governments commit to the level of spending necessary to ensure that the White Paper’s ambitious goals for the Australian Defence Force are realised? What about the strategic judgements underpinning the decisions on spending and force structure? Is concern about China’s burgeoning military power real, or merely Defence ‘spin’ designed to justify expensive acquisitions?
These questions were addressed by Professor Alan Dupont in his analysis of what the Rudd Government claims is the most comprehensive and far-reaching reform of defence planning ever attempted in Australia.
The presentation can be heard here:
2009 Defence White Paper - MP3 (22MB)
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Wednesday Lunch at Lowy - Florian Westphal presentation
On 20 May 2009 at the Wednesday Lunch at Lowy, Florian Westphal, the head of media at the International Committee of the Red Cross, in a presentation entitled 'Dealing with war crimes: what role for media and humanitarian organisations?' addressed the question of how the media and humanitarian organisations can responsibly draw the attention of policy-makers to the need to investigate, put a stop to and, importantly, prevent war crimes.
His presentation can be heard here:
Dealing with war crimes - MP3 (21MB)
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