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The inaugural Allan Gyngell Lecture
Statecraft is more than diplomacy. It implies vision, a sense of history, and a deep strategic appreciation of a nation's place in the world. It was a notion dear to Allan Gyngell — and it is the subject of this inaugural lecture in his honour.
At this special Lowy Institute event, Ric Smith AO — a distinguished Australian diplomat and one of Allan's closest contemporaries — delivered the first Allan Gyngell Lecture, reflecting on the meaning and practice of statecraft at a time when Australia's strategic circumstances are being tested as never before. Drawing on more than five decades of service across diplomacy, defence, and national security, Smith offered a rare and searching perspective on what it takes to navigate a complex and dangerous world with clarity, courage, and purpose.
The lecture honours the life and legacy of Allan Gyngell AO (1947–2023), the Lowy Institute's founding Executive Director, one of Australia's most respected foreign policy thinkers, and a towering figure in the nation's diplomatic and intelligence community.
Ric Smith AO joined the Department of External Affairs in 1969 and served in Australia's diplomatic missions in India, Israel, the Philippines, and Hawaii, before serving as Ambassador to China and Mongolia (1996–2000) and Indonesia (2001–02). He was Secretary of the Department of Defence from 2002 to 2006, and Australia's Special Envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan from 2009 to 2013. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in 1998 and awarded a Public Service Medal in 2002 for his service in response to the Bali bombing.
Allan Gyngell AO (1947–2023) was the founding Executive Director of the Lowy Institute (2003–09), Director-General of the Office of National Assessments (2009–13), National President of the Australian Institute of International Affairs, and an Honorary Professor in the ANU's College of Asia and the Pacific. He joined the Department of External Affairs in 1969, with postings in Rangoon, Singapore, and Washington DC, and later served as international adviser to Prime Minister Paul Keating.
Featuring
Ric Smith
Richard Smith is a former Nonresident Fellow of the Lowy Institute.
Michael Fullilove
Dr Michael Fullilove AM is the Executive Director of the Lowy Institute.
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