The Lowy Institute

In the 2009 Australia-India Strategic Lecture, delivered at the Lowy Institute on 11 May, Ambassador Chinmaya Gharekhan examined India’s dangerous neighbourhood, and in particular the deep security challenges posed by the situations in Pakistan and Afghanistan. He presented a sobering picture of the prospects for these countries, and the implications for India and other countries threatened by jihadist terrorism.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Lowy Institute, in cooperation with the Sydney Democracy Forum, explored the state of West Asian democracy in a panel discussion held on Tuesday 2 October, 2007 at the Institute. The session compared and contrasted two different ends of the democratic spectrum in the region. It assessed the state of the region and the world’s largest democracy, India, and it explored democratic prospects in Egypt, a country that had, until recently, been lauded by the US government as an example of positive, if incremental, political reform. The session also explored the role of the international community in fostering democratisation in this strategically critical region. The panel speakers were Anthony Bubalo, Niraja Gopal Jayal and John Keane.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Symposium, Strengthening the Global and Regional Fight Against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, co-sponsored by Pacific Friends of the Global Fund, AusAID and the Lowy Institute for International Policy, was held at the Lowy Institute in Sydney on 24 February 2009.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The 2008 Australia-India Strategic Lecture was presented at the Lowy Institute on 25 March 2008 by Ambassador Lalit Mansingh. The title of his lecture was 'The promise and the limits of the India-US relationship: What it means for Asia and the world'. The partnership between India and the United States has been a central part of the story of India's changing place in the world in recent years, and Ambassador Mansingh has played a singular role in the transformation of the relationship between the world's two largest democracies. He is a former Indian Foreign Secretary and Ambassador to the United States. His visit to Australia was supported by the Australia-India Council, the Lowy Institute's partner in the Australia-India Strategic Lecture.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As the George W Bush Presidency draws to a close, attention is increasingly focused on the likely policies of his successor, particularly in the Middle East. The Lowy Institute was pleased to present at the Wednesday Lowy Lunch on 30 July 2008 a speaker eminently qualified to address this critical topic, Ambassador Martin S. Indyk. Ambassador Indyk is a Director on the Board of the Lowy Institute for International Policy. He is the Director of the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution in Washington DC, and a former US Ambassador to Israel.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On 26 September at the Wednesday Lunch at Lowy, Lucinda Holdforth, a former Australian diplomat and foreign policy adviser and the author of the recently published 'Why manners matter: the case for civilised behaviour in a barbarous world' gave a presentation on the link between good manners and international politics.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On Wednesday 22 August at the Wednesday Lunch at Lowy, Amos Brandeis, an Ambassador for the International River Foundation, spoke about the links between the environment and conflict. Tim Flannery introduced Mr Brandeis.Mr Brandeis is the manager of the Alexander River Restoration Project, a unique partnership between Israel and Palestine. In 1995 Israelis and Palestinians came together to restore a heavily polluted river that flows through Palestine. In 2003, the Project was awarded the prestigious Thiess International River Prize. Amos Brandeis argued that protection of the environment can assist in creating peace and stability out of conditions of conflict, war and poverty.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On 16 August at the Wednesday Lunch at Lowy, Mr Les Murray from the SBS network discussed the broader social and cultural elements of the World Cup, and how our recent success has helped change perceptions of Australia around the world.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On 19 July at the Wednesday Lunch at Lowy, Whit Mason discussed how Australia can apply the lessons of the international community's experience in Kosovo to state-building in its own immediate region. Whit's presentation, 'Balkan lessons for Australia’s arc of instability: the Joe Namath school of state-building' can be heard here.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On Monday 17 May at the Lowy Institute, an audience heard five important voices in Australian cultural life examine the role of music in promoting understanding between nations and communities. Joining Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor, Sydney Symphony, Mr Vladimir Ashkenazy (pictured), in this unique public conversation were Lindy Hume, David Bridie, Andrew Ford and Geraldine Doogue AO.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On 8 November at the Wednesday Lunch at Lowy, Professor Chaiwat Satha-Anand, Professor of Politics at Thammasat University in Thailand, and a member of the National Reconciliation Commission established in 2005 as a part of efforts to promote a peaceful resolution to the conflict in southern Thailand, discussed public reactions to the Commission’s recent report on violence in southern Thailand and what these reactions tell us about the nature of Thai society.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At at reception at the Westin Hotel on Thursday 28 January 2010, Dr Michael Wesley, Executive Director of the Lowy Institute, spoke of what we should expect in the decade ahead.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On 19 April at the Wednesday Lunch at Lowy, Dr Rodd McGibbon explained the background to the current difficult bilateral tensions between Australia and Indonesia over Papua.Dr Rodd McGibbon will be the author of a Lowy Institute Paper on Papua scheduled for publication later this year and has recently returned to Australia after working for 6 years in Indonesia for the United Nations, USAID and the United States Institute of Peace. He has also worked as a Southeast Asia analyst for the Office of National Assessments.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At the Wednesday Lunch at Lowy on 17 May 2006, the Institute launched the new Lowy Institute Paper, The Paramount Power: China and the Countries of Southeast Asia, by Dr Milton Osborne.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In a speech to the Lowy Institute on 27 August, the Australian Prime Minister, the Hon. John Howard MP, outlined his objectives for the Sydney meeting of APEC, the most significant international gathering ever held in Australia. Mr Howard spoke about APEC activities in the fields of trade, regional security challenges and climate change, and about his expectations for some of the significant bilateral visits that will accompany the APEC meeting.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On 5 March 2009, the Lowy Institute hosted a roundtable discussion in the run-up to the G-20 meeting of world leaders to be held in London on 2 April this year. The roundtable was supported by the British High Commission in Canberra and was part of the British Government's efforts to reach out to the wider community for ideas before this critical summit meeting. The forum was addressed by the Hon. Paul Keating who analysed the opportunity offered by the London Summit to reshape the global order.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On Monday 20 April 2009, the Lowy Institute was pleased to host Senator the Hon. Penny Wong, Minister for Climate Change and Water, who addressed the Institute on the subject of Australia's contribution to a global agreement on climate change.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Professor Raja Mohan, Strategic Affairs Editor of the Indian Express, and one of India's most influential commentators on India's foreign and strategic policy, delivered the inaugural Australia-India Strategic Lecture on the subject of India and East Asia in Melbourne on 21 February.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As a part of its Distinguished Speaker Series, the Lowy Institute for International Policy was proud to host Dr Ezzedine Choukri-Fishere, Counselor for Middle East Peace Process and Regional Security in the Cabinet of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Egypt. Dr Choukri-Fishere discussed Hamas' military takeover of the Gaza Strip and examined its implications for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On 29 August at the Lowy Institute, Thales Chairman and CEO, Denis Ranque, in his only public speech while visiting Australia, discussed the implications for national sovereignty arising from the procurement of defence material and services from foreign-based corporations.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.