Veteran broadcaster Andrew Neil joins CIS Executive Director Michael Stutchbury for a sweeping conversation about the future of the West at a moment of profound geopolitical danger. Drawing on five decades in journalism, Neil examines the rise of a newly assertive “axis of autocracy,” the retreat of American leadership, and the mounting strategic dilemmas facing democracies from Europe to the Indo-Pacific.

This discussion moves far beyond the headlines to explore the deeper forces reshaping world order: China’s ambitions, Russia’s war in Ukraine, America’s unpredictable foreign policy, Europe’s economic stagnation, the Middle East’s shifting power balance, and the urgent question of whether liberal democracies still have the resolve to defend themselves. Neil explains why the 21st century so far has been “the century of the autocrats,” how Europe became weakened by complacency, and why Australia may need to rethink long-held assumptions about US security guarantees.

At the centre of the conversation is a stark dilemma: Can the West rebuild the alliances, military strength, and economic dynamism needed to withstand a united bloc of authoritarian regimes? Or must democracies learn to operate in a world where America may no longer be the indispensable ally it once was?

This is a frank and at times sobering exchange — a clash of realism and hard geopolitics — but also one that insists the democracies are not yet destined to lose. Neil argues that the West can still push back against rising autocracies, provided it rediscovers strategic seriousness, economic competitiveness, and the will to act.

Andrew Neil is one of Britain’s most accomplished journalists, having served as editor of The Sunday Times, chairman of Sky News UK and The Spectator, and a long-time BBC political presenter.

Michael Stutchbury is Executive Director of the Centre for Independent Studies.

Recorded live in Sydney on 14 October 2025 for the Centre for Independent Studies’ annual John Bonython Lecture and Gala Dinner.