AIIA

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has been in the media frequently recently because of the four Genocide Convention cases before it. The cases have been brought against a variety of countries, Myanmar, Russia, Israel and Germany, and for a variety of reasons. This talk from two Australian international law experts will give an overview of the current Genocide Convention cases before the ICJ. After introducing the ICJ and its role, the talk will provide a clear outline of the current ICJ cases brought under the Genocide Convention, breaking down the complex legal process and arguments into a straightforward explanation for the lawyer and non-lawyer alike.

This event is organised in collaboration with the Centre for Muslims States and Societies of the University of Western Australia.

Since Ireland was partitioned in 1920 its reunification has seemed impossible. Many still feel that way, partly because of the bloody legacy of past conflict. In the North, however, the demographic majority of Ulster Protestants is lost, and Ulster unionists are no longer the largest voting bloc: in the 2023 local government elections their combined support fell below 40 per cent, compared to the combined Northern nationalist vote of 44 per cent. Referendums on reunification may be on the horizon but even those who want reunification are not prepared. Distinguished political scientist Brendan O'Leary—profoundly engaged with the Irish question for nearly four decades—addresses what needs to be done to ensure adequate preparation, drawing on his books and research he has led on public opinion conducted under the auspices of ARINS, a joint initiative of the University of Notre Dame and the Royal Irish Academy.

Please join us at this special event at which our distinguished guest speaker Professor the Hon Gareth Evans AC KC FASSA FAIIA will provide his insights on the evolution of Australia's regional security environment. He served as Australia's long term Foreign Minister during a period when much of the then existing regional security architecture was revamped, including the creation of APEC and the ASEAN Regional Forum. In his post political career he has continued to have close engagement with decision makers in the region, including as the President and CEO of the International Crisis Group (ICG) from 2000-2009. This makes Gareth Evans uniquely well placed to understand how the dynamics of the region have developed and its potential future trajectories. His close working relationships with leaders from Australia's immediate neighbours in Southeast Asia have also provided him with an appreciation of the views from these key countries, which are often not heard as much as they should in Australia and in major capitals. He will share his thinking on how best Australia should respond to the new and significant challenges in the region.

At this event Professor Kadambot H.M. Siddique talked about Future Smart Foods and Global Food Security.  Professor Siddique's PowerPoint presentation can be downloaded here

Asia and the Pacific continue to suffer from a high prevalence of malnutrition. An estimated 479 million undernourished people, 58 % of the worldwide total, live in this region. Chronic undernutrition is due to the persistent inability to meet minimum micronutrient and macronutrient requirements, or the frequent recurrence of acute malnutrition episodes, or a combination of both.

Food-based approaches that address malnutrition, especially micronutrient deficiencies, are embedded in evidence-based healthy diet patterns. But they are disconnected from the current agricultural production system. Neglected and underutilized species (NUS) are fundamental to improving dietary and production diversity. These species are nutrient-dense, climate-resilient, profitable, adaptable, and locally available.

The Future Smart Food Initiative, led by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations Regional Initiative on Zero Hunger, aims to harness the enormous benefits that NUS offer in the fight against hunger and malnutrition. Recognizing that NUS covers crop, livestock, fisheries and aquaculture and forest, FAO sets crop as an entry point among NUS to address hunger and malnutrition. Many NUS can tolerate various stresses, which would make production systems not only more diverse but more sustainable and climate resilient. Their resistance to climate change implies that NUS can provide food when other crops fail.

Future Smart Food - Rediscovering hidden treasures of neglected and underutilized species for Zero Hunger in Asia, edited by Xuan Li and Kadambot H.M. Siddique, was published by the FAO in 2018.

At our March Event, Professor Samina Yasmeen (AM) talked about how Pakistan is passing through a critical juncture in its history as an independent state.

Since the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government led by Imran Khan was removed by a coalition led by the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) in April 2022, the country has been sliding into a dysfunctional state. Economic decline with prospects of debt default, growing inequality, and the threat of renewed militancy, require serious thinking by Pakistan's political leaders. But politicians have engaged in a war of counter narratives to either regain or retain power.  And this takes place against the backdrop of the Pakistan military's ever-present role in politics.

The nature of these narratives suggests either an inability or unwillingness of Pakistan's leaders to focus on addressing the issues that could determine Pakistan's future. The presentation will look at these dimensions and explore what could be done to bring Pakistan back from the brink of self-induced implosion. 

In partnership with AIIA Tasmania, AIIA WA was pleased to host a Webinar-only discussion on Malaysian politics following the elections held on 19 November 2022, which resulted in a hung parliament and a patchwork coalition led by long term opposition leader, Anwar Ibrahim.

The 2018 ground-breaking election, at which the Barisan Nasional (National Alliance) lost government for the first time since the nation's independence in 1957, heralded the start of a new form of politics in Malaysia. Shifting coalitions of members of parliament resulted in three different Prime Ministers during the parliamentary term.

This panel discussion explored the reasons for the elections results, how the Anwar led coalition was able to form government, how the first 100 days have gone, and what  these early days say about the longevity of his leadership. As an avowed internationalist and a reputation as a global thinker, the panel will also look at Anwar's foreign policy priorities and what his influence is likely to be in the region.

The panel was moderated by President of AIIA WA Brendan Augustin with Dr James Chin, a leading scholar of contemporary Malaysian politics and a Professor of Asian Studies at the University of Tasmania  and Vice President of AIIA Tasmania; and Jahabar Sadiq, who runs the online news portal, Malaysian Insight, and has been a journalist covering Malaysia and region since 1988. Both are regular guests on international news outlets reporting on developments in Malaysia.

In December 2019 Australians were shocked by the "Forever Fires" that raged through 12 million hectares in Australia's South East. Since then, prospects that once seemed abstract have materialised in rapid succession: a global pandemic, massive floods, and the biggest military conflict in Europe since WW2. These events changed how we live, the way our economies are managed, and (arguably) governments.

At this event, former US Consul General Robin McClellan and Professors Mark Beeson and Gordon Flake to talked about what effect these changes might have for international relations in 2023.

As our first event in 2023, in collaboration with the Forrest Research Foundation, we had the pleasure to host Dato' Sri Saifuddin Abdullah, until recently the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Malaysia talking to us about the evolution of politics in Malaysia in an address titled "New Politics 2.0: Multiracial and Moderate Malaysian Democracy". In the discussion after his address he  also shared his reflections on his time as the Foreign Minister of this key regional country. 

As a founding member, Malaysia continues to play a key leadership role in ASEAN and the country is very actively engaged in broader regional and global issues. Malaysia and Australia share a relationship that is anchored in history but is also dynamic, contemporary and broad-based, including: exceptional people to people links; the second most important economic relationship for Australia in Southeast Asia; and a long-standing defence partner, both during conflicts and peacetime through the Five Power Defence Arrangement and the Malaysia Australia Joint Defence Program . In January 2021, the prime ministers of the two countries elevated the bilateral relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP)​.

It is now clear that the fracture in US-China relations goes very deep. It is not driven by disagreements about trade, freedom of navigation, or even human rights. It is driven by fundamental and seemingly irreconcilable differences between Washington and Beijing about the nature of the international order and their respective roles in it. Washington seeks to preserve its place as the primary power globally, and in East Asia. Beijing seeks to take its place as the primary power in East Asia, and as at least an equal player in a multipolar global order. 

There is little doubt about which side we in Australia would wish to win this contest. But our policy should not be based purely on wishes. It must take careful account of which side we should expect to win. This is now the key question facing Australian foreign policymakers – and it is among the most important questions we have ever faced. Judging that question requires us to consider the global context [including the crisis in Ukraine], the regional balance of military and diplomatic advantage between America and China, the underlying relativities of wealth and power, and the balance of resolve between them.  

In this presentation, Hugh White argued that a sober analysis of these factors strongly suggests that China will win the contest and emerge as the primary power in East Asia and the Western Pacific. That has immense and unsettling implications for Australia's foreign and defence policies today and into the future.

At this event, Kamahl shared, through a discussion with the AIIA WA President Brendan Augustin, his reflections and perspectives on how Australia's image of itself - and how others have seen us - has changed in the nearly 70 years that he has lived here.

Kamahl arrived in Adelaide as a 19-year-old student from Malaya (now Malaysia) in 1953. He was part of a first wave of students from Asia who were being allowed to come to study - but strictly not remain - in the country, which was still applying the White Australia policy which had been in place since Federation in 1901.

His improbable journey from an awkward international student in a strange land to becoming among the first persons of Asian heritage to emerge in the Australian entertainment industry, at a time when he was at risk of being deported due to the immigration policy, is a remarkable story. Overcoming significant barriers, which prevented many other performers of non-European background to establish themselves, he went on to build a successful career in Australia and across the world, selling more than 20 million records, including achieving number one hits in countries such as the Netherlands and Belgium.

As an Asian immigrant who broke into the world of popular culture at a time of race-based immigration policies and who then became a representative of Australia and Australian culture to the world, provides Kamahl with a truly unique vantage point to look at this journey of Australia's image since the 1950s, which he played an important role in shaping.

He will also share his experience of Australia's practice of Cultural Diplomacy, having represented his adopted nation to the world, and explore his ideas on what more as a country we can be doing to provide to the world a more contemporary view of Australia – a place vastly different to one in which he arrived in 1953.