For 650 days, Sean Turnell was a prisoner of the military junta that has ruled Myanmar since 2021. Incarcerated in some of Myanmar’s most notorious prisons, isolated, ill-treated, and ultimately convicted in a sham trial of effectively being a spy, the descent from his role as chief economic adviser to Myanmar’s civilian government was a steep one. From helping to design policies to entrench democracy and help make Myanmar the last and best of the Asian ‘tigers’, his task became one of simple and desperate survival. In An Unlikely Prisoner, Sean recounts how he not only survived his lengthy incarceration but left with his sense of humour intact and his spirit unbroken.

We were joined in conversation with the author, Dr Sean Turnell, moderated by Lowy Institute Research Director Hervé Lemahieu, with questions from the audience. 
 
Dr Sean Turnell is a Senior Fellow in the Southeast Asia Program at the Lowy Institute, covering developments in Myanmar, the wider region, and international economic issues. Prior to his appointment as chief economic adviser to Myanmar’s civilian government, he was a Professor of Economics at Macquarie University, and a senior analyst at the Reserve Bank of Australia.

The sixth annual Lowy Institute Pacific Aid Map reveals a new era of development financing that is characterised by new priorities and new financial instruments to support a Pacific region facing myriad challenges, including climate change. 

Join us on Tuesday 31 October for a special video event to launch the 2023 update of the Pacific Aid Map. Lead researcher Alexandre Dayant will be joined by Research Fellow Dr Jessica Collins and FDC Pacific Fellow Maholopa Laveil for a discussion facilitated by the Institute's Lead Economist and Director of the Indo-Pacific Development Centre Roland Rajah.

2023 Pacific Aid Map

Covering 82 donors, tens of thousands of projects and activities, 70 million datapoints and more than US$44 billion in spending, the Lowy Institute Pacific Aid Map is the largest and most comprehensive database of Official Development Finance — grants, loans, and other forms of assistance — ever assembled for the Pacific. The 2023 update now includes data on every aid project in the Pacific Islands region from 2008 to 2021.

Participants

Alexandre Dayant is the Deputy Director of the Indo-Pacific Development Centre and Project Lead for the Lowy Institute Pacific Aid Map and Southeast Asia Aid Map. His work focuses on development economics and geoeconomics in both regions. 

Dr Jessica Collins is a Research Fellow in the Pacific Islands Program at the Lowy Institute. She has undertaken research projects on the development benefits of Pacific remittances, and trends in financing to advance women’s development. She comments widely on Australia’s policy in the Pacific and publishes on Pacific women’s political representation. 

Maholopa (Maho) Laveil is the inaugural FDC Pacific Fellow at the Lowy Institute. He works in the Institute’s Pacific Islands Program as part of a one-year secondment from the University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG).

Roland Rajah is Director of the Indo-Pacific Development Centre, a dedicated policy research centre within the Lowy Institute. A development economist by background, Roland has extensive experience working across both emerging Asia and the small island developing states of the Pacific, notably with the Asian Development Bank, Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), and the Reserve Bank of Australia.

An address by Hadja Lahbib, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belgium, on business and human rights. The event was presided over by Her Royal Highness Princess Astrid of Belgium, who led the Belgian Economic Mission to Australia.

Following her address, the Minister joined the Lowy Institute’s Research Director Hervé Lemahieu for a panel conversation alongside Dr James Cockayne, Anti-Slavery Commissioner for New South Wales, and Professor Justine Nolan, Director of the Australian Human Rights Institute at the University of New South Wales. The discussion was centred on Europe’s expansion of corporate due diligence efforts and the implications for Australian businesses.

Tuesday 24 October 2023

The FDC Pacific Lecture, was given by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Fiji, the Hon Sitiveni Ligamamada Rabuka.

The Hon Sitiveni Rabuka is Fiji’s seventh elected Prime Minister, having previously served in the role from 1992 to 1999. He is also the current Minister for Foreign Affairs, Climate Change, Environment, Civil Service, Information, Public Enterprises and Veteran Affairs.

Prime Minister Rabuka has a distinguished military career and served as the Chair of Fiji’s Great Council of Chiefs from 1999 to 2001.

Prime Minister Rabuka spoke on Fiji’s economic recovery, future development ambitions and role in the region given intensifying geopolitical engagement. After his remarks, the Prime Minister spoke in conversation with the Lowy Institute's Executive Director, Dr Michael Fullilove AM.

The Prime Minister was introduced by the Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator the Hon Penny Wong.

The Rothschild & Co Distinguished International Fellowship brings an internationally recognised intellectual and policy leader to Australia to help deepen our debate on global issues.

Shivshankar Menon served as India’s National Security Adviser from 2010 to 2014, and prior to that as foreign secretary and ambassador to Beijing and Islamabad, among other capitals.

India, along with Asian geopolitics, has undergone rapid and accelerating change. Will India assume the role of a traditional power in a rebalanced Asian system? How will this affect the prospects for India’s increasingly close relationship with Australia and other major actors in the region? Shivshankar Menon argued that India’s move towards working ever more closely with the West is inevitable, but the devil is in the detail. 

Since 2013, the annual Owen Harries Lecture has honoured the significant contribution made to the international debate in Australia and the United States by Owen Harries, who was a Nonresident Fellow at the Lowy Institute.

In the wake of a shift in the global power balance, how can Australia best protect itself? 

The Echidna Strategy overturns the conventional wisdom about Australia’s security. Australia will need to defend itself without American help, but this doesn’t need to cost more. The Echidna Strategy sheds new light on the contest for leadership in Asia and the strategy Australia needs to thrive.

A conversation with the author, Sam Roggeveen, moderated by Lowy Institute Research Director Hervé Lemahieu, with questions from the audience.

Sam Roggeveen is the Director of the Lowy Institute’s International Security Program. He was the founding editor of The Interpreter and is the editor of the Lowy Institute Papers. Before joining the Lowy Institute, Sam was a senior analyst in Australia’s peak intelligence agency, the Office of National Assessments.

An address by foreign relations expert and former diplomat Dr Martin Indyk on US diplomacy in the Middle East and elsewhere, and lessons from history. Dr Indyk discussed his recent biography, Master of the Game: Henry Kissinger and the Art of Middle East Diplomacy, and the relevance of US diplomat Dr Kissinger for modern foreign policy challenges, including in Ukraine. After his remarks, Dr Indyk spoke in conversation with the Lowy Institute’s Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove.

Dr Martin Indyk is a former diplomat who is currently the Lowy Distinguished Fellow in US–Middle East Diplomacy at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. Prior to this, he was the executive vice president of the Brookings Institution. He served twice as US Ambassador to Israel, from 1995 to 1997, and again from 2000 to 2001. Dr Indyk was special assistant to President Bill Clinton, senior director for Near East and South Asian affairs at the US National Security Council, and assistant secretary for Near Eastern affairs at the US State Department. From 2013 to 2014, he served as President Barack Obama’s special envoy for Middle East peace. Ambassador Indyk is a founding member of the Lowy Institute Board.

The Foreign Minister of Germany Annalena Baerbock addressed the Lowy Institute via video link from Berlin. After her speech, Ms Baerbock spoke in conversation with the Lowy Institute's Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove.

Russia’s war in Ukraine is now well into its second year. Ukraine’s much-foreshadowed counter-offensive is developing more slowly than expected. Meanwhile, Russia’s leadership was rocked by the recent failed mutiny by the private Wagner paramilitary group.

The Lowy Institute hosted Mick Ryan and Zoya Sheftalovich earlier in 2023 for an update on the Ukraine war. In July 2023, with Ukraine on the offensive and Russia’s internal political instability, we again hosted these two compelling experts to discuss how the war in Europe is evolving. The conversation was hosted by Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove and included questions from the audience. 

Major General (Ret’d) Mick Ryan is a Nonresident Fellow at the Lowy Institute. His book, War Transformed: The Future of Twenty-First-Century Great Power Competition and Conflict, was published in 2022. 

Zoya Sheftalovich is a contributing editor for POLITICO, based in Sydney. She is a regular commentator on the Ukraine war for ABC News 24.