Solomon Islands unrest not helped by foreign powers behaving badly
While geopolitics may have been a spark, the true drivers of this week’s unrest go much deeper than foreign policy. Originally published in the Australian Financial Review
Wednesday 08 Dec 2021 | 19:35 | SYDNEY
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Australia’s early intervention can help Solomon Islands but the roots of the conflict run deep
Honiara has awoken to a calmer scene but tension lingers as quelling the violent protests has not resolved their underlying causes. Originally published in The Guardian
By Mihai Sora
In Conversation: Kurt Campbell, White House Indo-Pacific Coordinator
The White House Indo-Pacific Coordinator Kurt Campbell spoke to Lowy Institute Executive Director Michael Fullilove on the first day of the digital conference 'The Indo-Pacific Operating System' on 1 December 2021
2021 Owen Harries Lecture - Mathias Cormann
The 2021 Owen Harries Lecture was given on 24 November 2021 by Hon. Mathias Cormann, Secretary-General of the OECD. After the lecture, Mr Cormann spoke in conversation with the Lowy Institute's Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove
US seeks recalibration, but China is unlikely to reciprocate
Washington wanted the Biden-Xi meeting to establish guardrails to prevent confrontation. Beijing will probably see that as just code for maintenance of the US-dominated status quo. Originally published in the Australian Financial Review
By Ben Scott
Confessions of a Reserve Bank board member
Originally published in The Canberra Times
By John Edwards
2021 Lowy Lecture | Jake Sullivan
The 2021 Lowy Lecture was given on 11 November 2021 by Jake Sullivan, National Security Adviser to US President Joe Biden. After the lecture, he spoke in conversation with Lowy Institute Executive Director Michael Fullilove
Vigilance against foreign influence does not require overzealous suspicion of Chinese-Australians
Originally published in The Sydney Morning Herald
By Jennifer Hsu
What Taiwan really wants
Originally published in The New York Times
Lines blurred: Chinese community organisations in Australia
Examining the impact of Australia’s foreign interference debate and Beijing’s reach in Chinese-Australian community organisations
Telstra’s Digicel Pacific challenge
The deal with the government insulates the telco from financial risk. But accepting the role of Australia’s lead business ambassador in the region makes it no set-and-forget investment. This article was first published in the Australian Financial Review on 29 October 2021
Far more than just the money, Digicel is a very big deal
Originally published in The Australian. By Jonathan Pryke and Mihai Sora
International rules make U.S.-China conflict more likely
Cross-border principles governing conduct only exist if they are accepted by states. Originally published in Nikkei Asia Review
By Ben Scott
China, climate politics and COP26
Success at the Glasgow climate change conference relies on China accelerating its energy transition, and the United States and other rich countries making an effective alternative appeal to the developing world
By Sam Geall
Why Australia needs a security rebalance
The pandemic has blown up any idea that we can easily spot the future threats to Australia. So how do we prioritise our finite security resources? Originally published in the Australian Financial Review
By Ben Scott
The missing anchor: Why the EU should join the CPTPP
In the absence of the United States, consideration should be given to the European Union as a central player in an expanded Indo-Pacific trade accord
PNG is back on the brink of a delta variant disaster
Complacency and vaccine hesitancy at all levels of society have left PNG wide open to delta infection. The country needs outside help – and very quickly. Originally published in the Australian Financial Review. By Jonathan Pryke and Brendan Crabb.
Translating Tension: Chinese-language media in Australia
A new report into Australia’s Chinese-language media content examines the news landscape of one of the country’s largest diaspora communities
By Fan Yang
Australia is Making a Risky Bet on the U.S.
Australia has thrust itself into a central role in America’s rivalry with China. Originally published in The New York Times
What a new defence pact reveals about America
A deal between the United States, Britain, and Australia serves as a rebuttal of the argument that Washington is in retreat. First published in The Atlantic
AUKUS must walk and chew gum at the same time
Originally published in The Canberra Times
By Ben Scott
Submission to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Australia’s Response to the Coup in Myanmar
The following Joint Submission to the Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia was made by the Lowy Institute’s Ben Bland and Hervé Lemahieu on Australia’s response to the coup in Myanmar. Their comments were cited in a report produced by the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs,
This is America’s new foreign policy on show
The abandoning of Afghanistan is all about a shift to diplomacy and deal-making, not firepower and force.
Originally published in the Australian Financial Review
By Ben Scott
New man in Tehran aims for supreme power
Originally published in The Australian
How Biden's China doctrine can swing the pendulum back
A shift toward the center is more likely in coming months.
Originally published in Nikkei Asia Review
By Ben Scott
The trouble with Washington’s ‘Rules-Based Order’ gambit
Improved U.S. compliance with international norms would greatly enhance U.S. defense of the rules-based international order.
Originally published in The Diplomat
By Ben Scott
Why the US is quietly outshining China
Xi Jinping likes to say China owns the future and the West is in decline. But appearances can also deceive.
Originally published in the Australian Financial Review
China’s communists guard their future from the past
As they celebrate their party’s centenary, China’s leaders remain obsessed with the fate of the Soviet Union and its political reforms. They study history to avoid a repeat.
Originally published in the Australian Financial Review
By Peter Cai
Australia and the Growing Reach of China’s Military
Beijing’s maritime and aerospace capabilities will have serious implications in the event of an Indo-Pacific power play
Xi's tech crackdown preserves socialism with Chinese characteristics
Protecting foreign investors has never been a top priority.
Originally published in Nikkei Asia Review
Bridging Papua New Guinea’s information divide
In the lead-up to the 2022 national election, Papua New Guinea must address its information gap by investing in the public broadcaster
By Shane McLeod
Xi Jinping reels in his tech titans
Private enterprise created China’s vaunted digital economy. But Big Brother is always in charge. Originally published in the Australian Financial Review
China’s looming succession crisis
What will happen when Xi is gone?
Originally published in Foreign Affairs
Australia buying Digicel hits two birds with one stone
On top of staving off a China telco monopoly, underwriting the purchase would show the government is putting big money on the table to get ‘blue chip’ companies to invest in the Pacific. Originally published in the Australian Financial Review
There is no wages case for a permanent cut to immigration
RBA governor Philip Lowe makes a reasonable point about the short-term suppression of wages in some industries. But long-run evidence shows migration lifts demand for workers. Originally published in the Australian Financial Review
By Roland Rajah
Lowy Institute Poll 2021
In this its seventeenth year, the Lowy Institute Poll continues to chart how Australians feel about the world and its challenges, including COVID, China and climate change
Fear of military conflict on the rise in Australia
In an opinion piece originally published in The Australian newspaper, Lowy Institute director of public opinion and foreign policy Natasha Kassam and research director Alex Oliver describe how the pandemic, China’s behaviour, and a change in US leadership have catalysed some rapid shifts
Jagged sphere
China’s quest for infrastructure and influence in mainland Southeast Asia
By Greg Raymond
We only have a guest seat at G7 table
Originally published in the Australian Financial Review. Australia has been invited to this gathering of friends, but has no say in any decisions about how to get China to play by the rules. That’s a risk for the years ahead
Unrivalled Xi Jinping still has challenges
Originally published in the Australian Financial Review. China’s ruling party and its leader are now masters of everything they survey. But can the economy keep delivering when the private sector is cowed
Will Indonesia’s Omnibus reforms bolster recovery from COVID-19?
Originally published in East Asia Forum.
By Roland Rajah
Catching up in the space race isn’t a moon shot
China’s ‘God of Fire’ mission foreshadows a scramble for control of space — and Australia is being left behind. Originally published in The Australian
By Alan Dupont
Australians have never been so fearful and insular
How Australia has dealt with COVID-19 and the rift with China underscores changes in the national psyche. Originally published in The Australian Financial Review
Australia's South China Sea Challenges
Canberra needs to work with Southeast Asia to address looming South China Sea challenges from China and the US
By Malcolm Cook
Climate Poll 2021
Climate Poll 2021 by the Lowy Institute reports the results of a nationally representative survey on attitudes to climate change
Revealed: China’s plan to wean itself off Australian iron ore
For a China determined to punish Australia, the windfall gains delivered to Canberra from surging iron ore prices are intolerable. Originally published in the Australian Financial Review.
China, the West and Covid
It is hard to believe the world will easily forget China’s governing system allowed Covid to get out of hand and spread to the four corners of the Earth.
Originally published in The Australian
Countering China’s Adventurism over Taiwan: A Third Way
As America’s policy choices narrow to two extremes, a new proposal for a middle path
Evaluate the Ladakh crisis, keep China at bay
A critical assessment of the stand-off offers New Delhi key lessons in managing the strategic competition with China. Originally published by The Hindu
‘Fortress Australia’: what are the costs of closing ourselves off to the world?
Originally published in The Conversation.
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