America Is Up—and China Is Down—in Asia
But U.S. Power Faces Threats at Home. Originally published in Foreign Affairs.
Wednesday 26 Jan 2022 | 23:03 | SYDNEY
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Hervé Lemahieu
Director of Research
Lowy Institute
Areas of ExpertiseGlobal governance and multilateralism; Indo-Pacific power and diplomacy; Australian foreign policy; Southeast Asia; Myanmar
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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. Originally published in The Australian Financial Review
Asia Power Index 2021
The annual Asia Power Index measures resources and influence to assess the relative power of states in Asia. It is an analytical tool that ranks 26 countries and territories in terms of what they have, and what they do with what they have – reaching as far west as Pakistan, as far north as Russia
Digital Conference: The Indo-Pacific Operating System
The digital conference The Indo-Pacific Operating System: Power, Order and Rules for the 21st Century was hosted by the Lowy Institute on 1-2 December 2021
Beyond Fortress Australia
The reality of living in a pandemic has dawned on Australia. Covid cases at the time of writing are high and still climbing. The virus is here to stay. Equally clear is that ring-fencing the country from the world — the ‘Fortress Australia’ policy — is no longer viable
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,
Lowy Institute Conversations: The fall of Afghanistan and the rise of Taliban 2.0
In this episode of Conversations, Herve Lemahieu speaks with Lowy Institute Middle East specialists Lydia Khalil and Rodger Shanahan on the Taliban’s dramatic seizure of power and what may follow
Lowy Institute Conversations: Lord Adair Turner on climate change diplomacy
In this episode of Lowy Institute Conversations, director of the Lowy Institute's Power and Diplomacy Program Hervé Lemahieu talks with Lord Adair Turner, chair of the Energy Transitions Commission, about global climate politics leading up to COP26 in Glasgow 2021
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
Time for talk is over: Australia must take a greater role in tackling Myanmar crisis
Originally published in The Australian
Navigating a Three-Pronged Crisis
This is an edited version of the speech delivered by Hervé Lemahieu to The Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies on 22 December 2020
Looking for the keys to Covid “success”
With more than 2 million deaths globally, it’s clear that most nations have outdone each other only in underperforming.
Covid Performance Index: Deconstructing Pandemic Responses
This Interactive explores how almost 100 countries with publicly available and comparable data on the virus have managed the pandemic to date following their hundredth confirmed case of COVID-19. Countries have been sorted into broad categories — by regions, political systems, population size, and
The Case for Australia to Step Up in Southeast Asia
A policy brief by Hervé Lemahieu, Director of the Power and Diplomacy Program at the Lowy Institute, published by The Brookings Institution
2020 Asia Power Index Key Findings Report
The annual Asia Power Index — launched by the Lowy Institute in 2018 — measures resources and influence to rank the relative power of states in Asia. The project maps out the existing distribution of power as it stands today, and tracks shifts in the balance of power over time. The Index ranks
Submission to the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Inquiry into the Implications of the COVID-19 Pandemic for Australia's Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade
Joint submission by Lowy Institute researchers to the JSCFADT inquiry into the implications of the pandemic.
COVIDcast: Malcolm Turnbull on geopolitics and the pandemic
The latest episode in a podcast to discuss the implications of coronavirus for Australia, the region and the world.
COVIDcast: Malcolm Turnbull on geopolitics and the pandemic
In this episode of COVIDcast, Herve Lemahieu, Director of the Power and Diplomacy Program at the Lowy Institute, sat down with the Honourable Malcolm Turnbull, 29th Prime Minister of Australia from 2015 to 2018, to discuss global politics and the foreign policy challenges Australia must confront in
Emerging From COVID: Policy Responses To The Pandemic
In this new feature, Lowy Institute experts provide policy recommendations for Australia to address issues that are critical to our nation’s — and the world’s — successful emergence from the pandemic
Emerging from COVID: Policy Responses to the Pandemic
Lowy Institute experts provide policy recommendations for Australia to address issues that are critical to our nation's — and the world's — successful emergence from the pandemic
Global consensus can sway China
Events this week show that, amid the most protracted great power stand-off since the Cold War, middle powers can forge global consensus. Originally published in the Australian Financial Review
COVIDcast Episode 10: Australia’s role in shaping a post-corona world
The latest episode in a podcast to discuss the implications of coronavirus for Australia, the region, and the world.
By Hervé Lemahieu , Penny Wong
COVIDcast Episode 10: Sen. Penny Wong on Australia's role in the post COVID-19 world
In Episode 10, Hervé Lemahieu, Director of the Asian Power and Diplomacy Program, sits down with Senator Penny Wong, Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs and Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, to discuss Australia’s role in shaping the post COVID-19 world
By Hervé Lemahieu , Penny Wong
Strength in numbers: The benefit from global efforts to halt the virus
Scientists racing to solve Covid-19 are proving that international solidarity is no empty platitude.
The World After COVID
How will the COVID-19 pandemic change the world? Lowy Institute experts provide their analysis
COVIDcast Episode 6: Geopolitics and the pandemic
The latest episode in a podcast to discuss the implications of coronavirus for Australia, the region, and the world.
The World After COVID‑19
How will the coronavirus pandemic change the world? Lowy Institute experts provide their analysis
COVIDcast Episode 6: Geopolitics and the coronavirus pandemic
COVIDcast is a Lowy Institute pop-up podcast for anyone interested in understanding the effect of coronavirus on global politics. Each week for the next few weeks, Lowy Institute experts will sit down to discuss the implications of coronavirus for the world.
In episode 6, the Director of Lowy
By Hervé Lemahieu , Ben Bland
West must face its viral demons
It may be the global politics of the pandemic, rather than COVID-19 itself, that proves our undoing.
Originally published in the Australian Financial Review
COVIDcast Episode 2: virus is declared a pandemic
COVIDcast is a Lowy Institute pop-up podcast for anyone interested in understanding the effect of coronavirus on global politics. Each week for the next few weeks, Lowy Institute experts will sit down to discuss the implications of coronavirus for the world.
In Episode 2, Lowy Institute’s
Middle Powers Will Determine the Future of the Asian Order
In the Ambassador's Brief, Herve Lemahieu describes how the changing balance of power in Asia is setting the stage for prolonged great power competition. As the US-led rules-based order decays, the question is what regional order – if any – will replace it
Soft power goes up in smoke
A unique connection to nature is at the heart of our international appeal. Foot-dragging on climate is squandering it.
Originally published in the Australian Financial Review
Favourites of 2019: Babylon Berlin
A well-crafted look back at the Weimar Republic’s fragile democracy in 1929 shows how societies come apart at the seams.
Is Australia's Asian dream fading?
In our rush to step up in the Pacific, we must not make the mistake of stepping down in south-east Asia.
Originally published in the Australian Financial Review
Australia must perfect the art of sizing up China
Neither the US nor China can dominate the other. That leaves an opening for smart middle powers that know their own strengths.
Originally published in the Australian Financial Review
Macron tries to put the spark back into the G7
By keeping Trump from derailing the proceedings, the self-anointed saviour of the West scored a tactical win.
Morrison must think hard about our Pacific plays
Originally published in The Australian
Five big takeaways from the 2019 Asia Power Index
The 2019 Lowy Institute Asia-Power Index, launched today, tracks shifts in the distribution of power over 25 countries.
How Power Adapts to a Changed World
At the 2019 World Economic Forum in Davos, the Lowy Institute’s Hervé Lemahieu used the Asia Power Index to chart what might happen to the distribution of power as we move from an open and consensual world order to one that is defined more by competition and zero-sum politics
Thailand: the Princess vs the General
It’s very unusual for key players from the country’s two most powerful institutions to publicly showcase divisions.
Europe's crisis of unrealistic expectations
Originally published in Australian Financial Review
Why the US should not simply decouple from China without building new partnerships
Originally published in South China Morning Post
Why North Korea is in no hurry to do what the US wants
Meeting in Singapore last month, US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un captured the world's attention and promised to work towards “new relations”. Why have mixed messages followed? Originally published as a BBC.com news analysis.
The Global Power Balance Shifts Toward Asia
Originally published on Brink News
North Korea is a dangerous distraction
The real struggle in Asia is with China — and Trump is throwing away U.S. advantages.
First published by Foreign Policy on 23 May 2018
US remains the top power in Asia but for how long, as Trump erodes vital alliances?
Michael Fullilove and Hervé Lemahieu say China is rapidly gaining on the US as an Asian regional power, and the Trump administration’s mismanagement of trade and diplomatic ties in the region threatens its most significant advantage.
Originally published in the South China Morning Post on 11 May
Australia must shed self-doubt over its place in the new Asia
Originally published in The Australian on 9 May 2018
Myanmar's idol falls from grace
Originally published in the Australian Financial Review
European politics: The young centrists strike back
Originally published in the Australian Financial Review
Thailand poised for an orderly royal succession
The passing of an ailing octogenarian can never be truly unexpected. Yet the mood in Thailand is one of collective shock at the death of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the world’s longest-reigning monarch. Against this backdrop, the military transitional government of Prayut Chan-Ocha has begun
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