Hervé Lemahieu

Director of Research
Areas of expertise

Strategy and geopolitics; global governance; Australian foreign policy; Southeast Asia; Data analysis

Hervé Lemahieu
Biography
Publications
News and media

As Director of Research, Hervé Lemahieu manages the Lowy Institute’s research team. The Institute’s research is globally recognised for its analysis on China, Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands region, as well as its thematic expertise in economic, security and development issues. Hervé also has carriage of the Institute’s editorial, digital and design functions.

His research interests include strategy and geopolitics, global governance, Australian foreign policy, Southeast Asia and data analysis.

In 2018, Hervé developed the Asia Power Index, which is an annual data-driven assessment that maps the changing distribution of power in the region. He oversees other innovative multi-year research projects including the Global Diplomacy Index, the Southeast Asia and Pacific Aid Maps, and the Lowy Institute Poll.

Hervé provides regular commentary in Australian and international media, has given evidence in front of congressional and parliamentary committees, and presented his research at the World Economic Forum. He is a Consulting Senior Fellow at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore where he advises on the Anatomy of Choice Project: Southeast Asia between the Superpowers.

He has also convened a number of bilateral and trilateral strategic dialogues between Australia and ASEAN, China, the European Union, France and the United States.

Before joining the Lowy Institute in 2016, Hervé was Research Associate for Political Economy and Security at the London-based think tank IISS. He started his career at Oxford Analytica informing government and business policy on geopolitical risk in Asia.

Hervé holds an MSc in Global Governance and Diplomacy from the University of Oxford, and an MA in International Relations and Modern History from the University of St Andrews. A dual citizen of Australia and Belgium, he grew up in Myanmar among other countries.

An address by New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern
Speeches
An address by New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern
On 7 July 2022, the Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern, Prime Minister of New Zealand, gave an address at the Lowy Institute in Sydney titled A Pacific Springboard to Engage the…
Conversations: Australian Attitudes To The World
Podcasts
Conversations: Australian Attitudes To The World
Lowy Institute Director of Research Hervé Lemahieu talks to the Institute’s head of polling, Natasha Kassam, about the 2022 Lowy Institute Poll and what Australians think about…
Conversations: Europe and Australia in the Indo-Pacific
Podcasts
Conversations: Europe and Australia in the Indo-Pacific
In this episode of Conversations, Hervé Lemahieu talks to Gabriele Visentin, EU Special Envoy for the Indo-Pacific, and Lowy Institute Research Fellow Susannah Patton about the…
Conversations: Foreign policy and the Hawke legacy
Podcasts
Conversations: Foreign policy and the Hawke legacy
In this episode of Lowy Institute Conversations, journalist and biographer Troy Bramston speaks to Lowy Institute Director of Research Hervé Lemahieu about the foreign policy of…
AUKUS and nuclear proliferation
Speeches
AUKUS and nuclear proliferation
The Lowy Institute hosted Dr Alan J. Kuperman, Associate Professor at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs in Texas for a discussion on the implications of AUKUS for the…
Towards a Better Vaccine Diplomacy
Commentary
Towards a Better Vaccine Diplomacy
If vaccine diplomacy is the new great game, it is being played wrong by all sides, with the risk that no one will be left a winner. Originally published in The Diplomat.
Lowy Institute Conversations: Crisis in Ukraine and Russia's long game
Podcasts
Lowy Institute Conversations: Crisis in Ukraine and Russia's long game
In this special edition of Lowy Institute Conversations, Research Director Hervé Lemahieu speaks to Nonresident Fellow Bobo Lo about Russia's tactics and ambitions in Ukraine, and…
America Is Up—and China Is Down—in Asia
Commentary
America Is Up—and China Is Down—in Asia
But U.S. Power Faces Threats at Home. Originally published in Foreign Affairs. 
Managing Asia’s bipolar disorder
Commentary
Managing Asia’s bipolar disorder
US standing is up, China has been dragged down and middle nations have seen a steady decline in their influence, according to the latest Lowy Institute Asia Power Index…
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