Our Very Own Brexit
Australia’s Hollow Politics and Where It Could Lead Us
Monday 06 Apr 2020 | 09:07 | SYDNEY
What's happening on 
Xi Jinping: The Backlash
By the author of the acclaimed The Party: The Secret World of China’s Communist Rulers
America vs the West
Can the liberal world order be preserved
By Kori Schake
Remaking the Middle East
How a troubled region may save itself
Choosing Openness
Why global engagement is best for Australia
By Andrew Leigh
A Wary Embrace
What the China–Russia relationship means for the world
By Bobo Lo
Fighting with America
Why saying 'no' to the US wouldn’t rupture the alliance
By James Curran
The Embarrassed Colonialist
Forty years after independence, Papua New Guinea is the largest single recipient of aid from Australia. Yet Australians seem to be largely ambivalent about the country. Few Australians know the history of our colonial rule in PNG and our ties to the country are being forgotten.
By Sean Dorney
Condemned to Crisis?
It is often said that no country is more important to Australia than Indonesia. Ken Ward argues that Australian governments and their critics need to be realistic about an Australia–Indonesia relationship that risks always being crisis-prone and volatile
By Ken Ward
The Adolescent Country
In this Lowy Institute Paper, Sydney Morning Herald International Editor and Lowy Institute Nonresident Fellow Peter Hartcher argues that Australia needs to shake off its 'provincial reflex' and become a mature player in global affairs
Beyond the boom
In this Lowy Institute Paper, Dr John Edwards, Nonresident Fellow at the Lowy Institute, challenges the pessimism about the Australian economy. The mining boom is far from over – and it hasn’t been as important for Australian prosperity as widely believed.
By John Edwards
Courting Reform: Indonesia Islamic Courts and Justice for the Poor
Cate Sumner and Tim Lindsey explore how the Islamic courts in Indonesia have embraced reform within a judicial system notorious for corruption and incompetence, taking the lead in efforts to deliver decisions that are more accessible, transparent and fair.
Confronting ghosts: Thailand’s shapeless southern insurgency
In this Lowy Institute Paper, Joseph Chinyong Liow and Don Pathan examine the ongoing violence in the majority Muslim Malay provinces of Thailand’s south
The Mekong: River under threat
Dr Milton Osborne evaluates the potentially huge social and environmental risks for the Mekong River and the millions who depend on it for their livelihood of planned dam projects in Laos and Cambodia
China and the global environment: Learning from the past, anticipating the future
Dr Katherine Morton examines the potential for China's system of environmental governance to respond effectively to the crises, both within and beyond territorial boundaries.
Confronting the hydra: Big problems with small wars
As a democratic middle power that chooses to wage counterinsurgency conflicts, Australia needs improved strategic policy approaches and capabilities to overcome a complex and many-headed threat
By Mark O'Neill
A focused force: Australia defence priorities in the Asian Century
Hugh White calls for Australia to abandon the 'Balanced Force' concept and refocus its military on managing strategic risks related to the rise of China
By Hugh White
Zealous democrats: Islamism and democracy in Egypt, Indonesia and Turkey
The question is often asked 'What will Islamists do to democracy?' But it seems equally valid to ask 'What might democracy do to Islamists?' Anthony Bubalo, Greg Fealy and Whit Mason examine three different Islamist movements
Into Africa
The international resource boom has spurred a hunt for new mineral and hydrocarbon reserves, and an important new frontier in this search is Sub-Saharan Africa
World wide webs: Diasporas and the international system
In this Lowy Institute Paper, Dr Michael Fullilove argues that national diasporas are like ‘world wide webs’, with dense, interlocking strands spanning the globe and binding different individuals, institutions and countries together.
‘The Emerging Global Order’, by Russell Trood
To mark the recent passing of Russell Trood, the Lowy Institute is proud to present his 2008 Lowy Institute Paper on Australian foreign policy in the 21st century
'The end of the Vasco da Gama era'
The new Australian Government will have to navigate some difficult diplomatic waters in a world where power is shifting away from unipolarity and towards an Asia-centric multipolar order
By Coral Bell
Enmeshed: Australia and Southeast Asia fisheries
Southeast Asia's oceans are fast running out of fish, putting the livelihoods of up to 100 million people at risk, leading to more illegal incursions into Australia's northern fisheries and putting the future of shared stocks between Australia and Southeast Asia at grave risk
Australia and Indonesia: current problems, future prospects
Since the fall of President Suharto in 1998, Australia-Indonesia relations have been quite volatile with the Indonesian Ambassador to Australia being withdrawn briefly in 2006, the first time this has ever happened
By Jamie Mackie
Second thoughts on globalisation
Globalisation is one of the key forces shaping the global economy. It is also a policy choice
Howard decade
Paul Kelly evaluates John Howard's foreign policy, dealing with his attitudes towards the US, Asia, the use of military power and his strategic approach to Australia's role in the world.
The Paper can be downloaded here.
By Paul Kelly
Beyond the Defence of Australia
In Lowy Institute Paper 16, entitled 'Beyond the defence of Australia: finding a new balance in Australian strategic policy', Visiting Fellow Professor Hugh White examines the long-term strategic trends facing Australia, and how we can reconcile their conflicting demands.
By Hugh White
Mindanao: a gamble worth taking
A Lowy Institute Paper by Dr Malcolm Cook and Dr Kit Collier analyses the prospects for peace in Mindanao and the threats facing the peace process
Quiet boom
After fifteen years of uninterrupted growth, Australia's quiet economic boom shows no signs of ending.
By John Edwards
Pitfalls of Papua: understanding the conflict and its place in Australia-Indonesia relations
In Pitfalls of Papua: understanding the conflict and its place in Australia-Indonesia relations, Dr Rodd McGibbon calls on the Australian government to engage more actively in the public debate in Australia over the Papua conflict
Diaspora: The World Wide Web of Australians
In this Lowy Institute Paper, Dr Michael Fullilove argues that national diasporas are like ‘“world wide webs”’, with dense, interlocking strands spanning the globe and binding different individuals, institutions and countries together. The Paper follows those strands and describes the webs
Heating up the planet: climate change and security
This is a path-breaking examination of the potential implications for national and regional security that stem from the emerging non-traditional security challenge ‘climate change’ – especially for Australia and its Asia-Pacific neighbourhood
The paramount power
In a Lowy Institute Paper entitled The Paramount Power: China and the Countries of Southeast Asia, Dr Milton Osborne examines how China's relations with Southeast Asia have dramatically changed for the better in the last ten years
Shared secrets: intelligence and collective security
In a Lowy Institute Paper, Dr Simon Chesterman of New York University writes on the relationship between intelligence and collective security
Permanent friends? Historical reflections on the Australian-American alliance
This paper is the best short history of the Australia-US alliance. In this paper Peter Edwards AM places the alliance in historical perspective and considers the challenges faced by the alliance in the post-September 11 world.
Re-imagining PNG: culture, democracy and Australia role
Australia has, perhaps, no closer or more complicated a bilateral relationship than that with Papua New Guinea. Australia is deeply entwined with its nearest neighbour and has a major stake in its future
By Ben Scott
The new terms of trade
In this 2005 Lowy Institute Paper, Mark Thirlwell surveys the changing international trade landscape. The inability of policymakers to deliver the Doha Round has become a powerful symbol of the growing strains on the multilateral trading system
Balancing act: Taiwan cross-strait challenge
In the last decade, Taiwan's society has changed rapidly in ways that are challenging the cross-strait status quo
Joining the caravan? The Middle East, Islamism and Indonesia
September 11 2001 and the Bali Bombing in November 2002 evoked images of a militant Islamist wave sweeping the globe from the Middle East, radicalising once peaceful Muslim communities around the world
Diaspora: the world wide web of Australians
In this Lowy Institute Paper, Dr Michael Fullilove and Dr Chloë Flutter argue that the community of Australian expatriates is a great asset for this country.
Unsheathing the Samurai sword: Japan changing security policy
Japan emerged from World War II as the only country in the world to completely renounce war as a sovereign right. Despite this proscription, Japan’s self-defence forces form a large, technologically advanced military power
By Alan Dupont
River at risk: the Mekong and the water politics of China and Southeast Asia
The Lowy Institute Paper by Dr Milton Osborne critically analyses one of Southeast Asia's gravest social and environmental challenges, the damming and dredging of the Mekong River system.
India: the next economic giant
This Lowy Institute Paper by Mark Thirlwell assesses the emergence of India as a major new player in today's global economy.