Australia in the World

By Allan Gyngell and Darren Lim

What's Australia in the World about?

A discussion of the most important news and issues in international affairs through a uniquely Australian lens. Hosted by Allan Gyngell and Darren Lim.

Download our free app to listen on your phone

LAST EPISODE

Ep. 78: New DFAT Secretary;...

07.24.2021

Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has a new Secretary, Kathryn Campbell. Darren uses the occasion to build a theoretical model of the position, positing that the ideal candidate would fulfil four roles: administrator, consigliere, strategist and diplomat. Allan ...

Australia in the World episodes:

07.24.2021 Ep. 78: New DFAT Secretary; Exchange hack and Pegasus; APEC; return to Afghanistan? Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has a new Secretary, Kathryn Campbell. Darren uses the occasion to build a theoretical model of the position, positing that the ideal candidate would fulfil four roles: administrator, consigliere, strategist and diplomat. Allan ...
07.01.2021 Ep. 77: Debating democracy and the “competition of systems” In an episode recorded on 24 June, Allan and Darren take a step back from the news to discuss an emerging theme in international affairs: the competition of systems, which arrays liberal democracies against various types of authoritarianism, with the ...
06.19.2021 Ep. 76: Morrison’s Perth speech; PM Lee’s China advice; an energised G7; bilaterals with UK & France This week’s episode tracks PM Scott Morrison’s recent travels. We begin in Perth prior to his leaving the country with what Allan considers to be a major foreign policy speech. Why? Where Allan sees a definite break from decades of ...
06.09.2021 Ep. 75: PM to NZ; Samoa; Kabul embassy closure; Belarus; lab leak After some time away from the news, Allan and Darren have a lot to catch up on. This episode begins with PM Scott Morrison’s visit to New Zealand to meet his counterpart Jacinda Ardern. Allan provides his readout of the ...
05.28.2021 Ep. 74: Linda Jakobson (Part 2): Australia-China relations; Taiwan In the second half of this double episode with China expert Linda Jakobson, the conversation takes a broader focus. Allan begins with Taiwan, which has been in the headlines lately: how should we think about the dangers? What would it ...
05.26.2021 Ep. 73: Linda Jakobson (Part 1): On China, Chinese politics, and Finlandisation Allan and Darren welcome Linda Jakobson to the podcast. Linda is a leading China expert, and a vital voice in Australia’s own China debate. The conversation spans almost 100 minutes and will be released in two parts. At a time ...
04.25.2021 Ep. 72: Leaving Afghanistan; Aust-NZ-China relations; Biden-Suga summit With President Joe Biden announcing the forthcoming withdrawal of ground troops from Afghanistan, the West’s 20 year war in Afghanistan is drawing to a close. Allan and Darren open this week’s podcast with a discussion of whether this is the ...
04.15.2021 Ep. 71: Myanmar—tragedy, complexity & power; PNG & Covid-19; Dutton to Defence The primary focus of this week’s episode is the terrible situation in Myanmar as the Tatmadaw, the country’s military, cements its coup with increasing levels of violence. Allan’s first posting was to the country and so he leads off with ...
03.29.2021 Ep. 70: Alaska, “competitive co-existence” & duelling sanctions; Quad outcomes; OECD Cormann Whereas the previous episode looked at the early weeks of the Biden administration, this week Allan and Darren examine the new trajectory of US-China relations. A theatrical public session grabbed the headlines when senior officials met in Alaska, but the ...
03.13.2021 Ep. 69: Biden’s early days; Quad; Pacific Islands Forum The major focus this episode is the early weeks of the Biden administration, which has raced out of the blocks with numerous foreign policy actions, and some have been controversial. Nevertheless, how does it feel to have things (roughly) back ...
02.25.2021 Ep. 68: Natasha Kassam on preparing for a China-led world Natasha Kassam of the Lowy Institute joins the podcast this week, to join Darren in facing interrogation from Allan arising from their co-authored essay, published this week in Australian Foreign Affairs (Issue 11) entitled “Future Shock: How to Prepare for ...
02.05.2021 Ep. 67: NZ-China-Australia; Myanmar; Xi's WEF speech; Australia-Malaysia CSP This week's episode begins with the advice New Zealand’s Trade Minister Damien O’Connor attempted to offer Australia on how to manage bilateral relations with China. Was it helpful, and regardless does Australia have something to learn from the way New ...
01.21.2021 Ep. 66: Revisiting the Capitol; a declassified Indo-Pacific strategy; Five Countries (!), & fresh ideas for Aussie FP? Recorded the day after Joe Biden’s inauguration as President, Allan and Darren begin the episode by returning to the storming of the U.S. Capitol on 6 January, reflecting on whether their initial assessments need to be updated based on what ...
01.08.2021 Ep. 65: Processing events at the U.S. Capitol Following the shocking events on Wednesday 6 January when a mob of Trump supporters (incited by the president) stormed the U.S. Capitol Building, Allan and Darren offer their reactions in this episode recorded in the afternoon of Friday 8th. Above ...
12.23.2020 Ep. 64: A cabinet reshuffle, politician ambassadors, the Richardson Review and summer homework Allan and Darren begin their final episode of 2020 with the recent cabinet reshuffle, specifically Dan Tehan becoming Minister for Trade and Andrew Hastie becoming Assistant Minister for Defence. Tehan replaces Simon Birmingham, the new Finance Minister, and Allan explains ...
12.16.2020 Ep. 63: Climate change and Australia, with Howard Bamsey Allan and Darren welcome Professor Howard Bamsey to the podcast, who offers unmatched experience regarding Australia’s international engagement with the issue of climate change. Beginning his professional life in DFAT, Howard has worked in almost all the parts of the ...
12.02.2020 Ep. 62: A wild week in Australia-China relations In this emergency episode, Allan and Darren react to a tumultuous few weeks in Australia’s bilateral relationship with China. Events discussed include: the “14 points” document provided by the Chinese embassy to Australian journalists, new anti-dumping duties on Australian wine, ...
11.15.2020 Ep. 61: Short- and long-term questions for Australian foreign policy Feeling particularly reflective as the US electoral process inches toward a conclusion, Allan and Darren chat about what they see as the short- and long-term challenges facing Australian foreign policy. In the short term, the bilateral relationship with China looms ...
11.05.2020 Ep. 60: US election rapid reactions Recorded on Thursday 5th November in the afternoon (Canberra time), as Joe Biden appeared on track for victory in the 2020 US presidential election but had not yet crossed the 270 electoral college vote threshold, Allan and Darren offer their ...
10.28.2020 Ep. 59: Malabar and an emerging balancing coalition; Senator Abetz and loyalty tests; diplomacy and quarantine This week’s episode begins with a focus on recent events in Australia’s defence policy space, which both Allan and Darren see as trending towards the formation of a balancing coalition in the region. Australia will join the US, Japan and ...
10.11.2020 Ep. 58: Mailbag! US failures; fearing abandonment; the Quad & democracy; grading China policy; DFAT in 2050 Thrilled that the podcast is about to cross the 100,000 lifetime download threshold (thank you all!), Allan and Darren try something new this week – answering mailbag questions. Is the US a ‘failed state’, and would ‘strategic autonomy’ be realistic ...
09.26.2020 Ep. 57: Foreign interference & the Australia-China relationship; trilaterals; PM Suga; Thai protests Allan and Darren return once again to the Australia-China relationship to begin today’s episode. The particular topic is foreign interference, in the wake of accusations by the Chinese government that PRC journalists working in Australia had their homes raided by ...
09.10.2020 Ep. 56: Aussie journalists depart China (and other bilateral tensions); Foreign Relations Bill; Abe’s legacy; Tony Abbott Recording early afternoon on Wednesday 7 September, Allan and Darren begin by grappling with the previous day’s news of the arrival back in Australia of the last two China correspondents from Australian media outlets: the ABC’s Bill Birtles and the ...
08.29.2020 Ep. 55: Richard Maude returns (Part 2): China, models of cooperation, & what Australian foreign policy can do In part two of Richard Maude’s return to the podcast, the conversation begins with China. Was Richard “surprised” by Beijing’s promulgation of the Hong Kong National Security Law? Should the Australian government be updating its priors regarding the level of ...
08.23.2020 Ep. 54: Richard Maude returns (Part 1), and Darren in the Beirut Blast This week Allan and Darren welcome back Richard Maude to the podcast, who returns after his first appearance back in February in Episode 41. Until shortly before that first recording, Richard was Deputy Secretary, Indo-Pacific Group, in the Department of ...
08.04.2020 Ep. 53: Consulate closures & deteriorating US-China relations; AUSMIN; Defence Strategic Update On this week’s episode, the deteriorating relationship between Washington and Beijing takes centre stage, including the consulate closures in Houston and Chengdu. What’s going on, and why now? How much is this all about American electoral politics, and does that ...
07.18.2020 Ep. 52: ABC journalist Stephen Dziedzic on reporting Australian foreign policy, media-govt relations, and the Wolverines Allan and Darren welcome Stephen Dziedzic to the podcast, who covers foreign affairs in the Asia Pacific region for Australia’s national broadcaster, the ABC, based at Parliament House in Canberra. Stephen has spent more than a decade at the ABC, ...
07.04.2020 Ep 51: Lowy Poll 2020; India-China; DFAT's travel advice for China; Allan's brush with tabloid fame As Allan and Darren commence with their next 50 episodes, they begin with the 2020 Lowy Poll. Allan in particular is interested in the rise in Australians saying they do not feel safe, and Darren wonders what impact this will ...
06.24.2020 Frances Adamson, DFAT Secretary, on our 50th episode On the occasion of the podcast’s 50th episode, Allan and Darren are thrilled to welcome Australia’s most senior diplomat and foreign policy official, Frances Adamson, the Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the first woman to hold ...
06.14.2020 Ep. 49: US turmoil; India CSP; G-7; WHO lessons; HK; Australian geoeconomics After a month away from the news, this episode Allan and Darren try to catch up. They begin with tragedy and turmoil in the United States. What do the protests and racial tensions—and Trump’s efforts to handle them—say about the ...
06.02.2020 Ep. 48: Harinder Sidhu, former High Commissioner to India, on the Australia-India relationship Allan and Darren welcome Harinder Sidhu to the podcast to discuss India and Australia-India relations. A Deputy Secretary in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Harinder recently returned from a posting as the Australian High Commissioner in New Delhi. ...
05.13.2020 Ep. 47: Heather Smith on fixing the G20, industrial policy, tech competition, and what economists get wrong Allan and Darren welcome Dr Heather Smith PSM to the podcast. Until January 2020, Heather was Secretary of the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science, which followed serving as Secretary of the Department of Communications and the Arts. Before that ...
05.06.2020 Ep. 46: Australia-China tensions over a Covid-19 inquiry This week Allan and Darren devote the entire episode to a wild and very tense few weeks in the bilateral relationship between Australia and China. These events kicked off with Foreign Minister Marise Payne’s call for an inquiry into China’s ...
04.23.2020 Ep. 45: The WHO; “mask diplomacy”; DFAT & Covid-19 Covid-19 remains central to the news this week. Allan and Darren begin with President Trump’s decision to freeze U.S. funding to the World Health Organization, and assess the validity his criticisms. Australia’s Foreign Minister Marise Payne has proposed an inquiry, ...
04.09.2020 Ep. 44: The United States, and the alliance This week Allan and Darren try to step back from Covid-19, and have a long-planned conversation about the United States: its domestic politics, its role in the world, and the state of the alliance relationship with Australia. Allan begins by ...
03.28.2020 Ep. 43: The consequences of Covid-19 Covid-19 will have a profound long-term impact on the world, both within countries and internationally. In this episode, Allan and Darren make some guesses as to how the world will look different after this crisis has passed, and how Australia ...
03.09.2020 Ep. 42: Covid-19 update; ASIO speaks; Morrison hosts Jokowi & Ardern Allan and Darren commence with an update on the novel coronavirus, now called Covid-19. How should we evaluate China’s handling of the outbreak? Given the struggles of some democratic systems—the United States in particular—is an authoritarian approach best for public ...
02.27.2020 Ep. 41: Richard Maude on the Indo-Pacific, models of world politics, and Australian foreign policy This week Allan and Darren interview Richard Maude, who needs no introduction to regular observers of Australian foreign policy. Until recently, Richard was Deputy Secretary, Indo-Pacific Group, in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Prior to that, he headed ...
02.09.2020 Ep. 40: Coronavirus; Huawei in the UK; the WTO, and UK / EU trade deals Allan and Darren begin this episode with Australia’s response to the novel coronavirus, including the government’s efforts to evacuate Australians from Wuhan, the decision not to charge evacuees, and the decision to the bar entry into Australia of foreigners who ...
01.29.2020 Ep. 39: The 2020 Raisina Dialogue Allan and Darren try something different this episode, with Allan taking the lead in asking Darren about his experience attending the Raisina Dialogue, India’s flagship international affairs conference, held in New Delhi from 14-16 January 2020, and organised the Observer ...
01.15.2020 Ep. 38: Gordon de Brouwer on economics vs security, climate change, and effective policymaking In an episode recorded in the second week of December 2019, Allan and Darren welcome Gordon de Brouwer PSM onto the podcast. Gordon has a distinguished public service career in the fields of economics, the environment, energy and international institution ...
01.09.2020 Ep. 37: The bushfires, internationally; the Soleimani killing; reviewing 2019, looking ahead to 2020 In their first episode recorded in the new year, Allan and Darren begin with the news. First, they take an international perspective on the catastrophic Australian bushfires, which have become a truly global disaster. How will the bushfires affect Australia’s ...
12.19.2019 Ep. 36: Ex-ASIO head Duncan Lewis (Part 2): foreign interference and national security policymaking in Australia In Part 2 of our exclusive interview with Duncan Lewis AO, DSC, CSC, the recently retired head of ASIO, the conversation turns to the more recent challenge of foreign interference. Duncan has been quoted recently as describing foreign interference as ...
12.18.2019 Ep. 35: Ex-ASIO head Duncan Lewis (Part 1): on his military & govt career, and the challenge of terrorism In a first for the podcast, we present our first double episode, an exclusive interview with Duncan Lewis AO, DSC, CSC who until recently was Australia’s Director General of Security, leading ASIO, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation. In this first ...
11.29.2019 Ep. 34: All things China (again)! Defectors? Sleeper agents? MP visas & Hong Kong It is simply impossible to ignore China-related news stories in Australia this week, and so Allan and Darren do their best to grapple with the twin bombshell stories of a Chinese defector and asylum seeker, Wang “William” Liqiang, who claims ...
11.07.2019 Ep. 33: US leadership: vision vs reality; RCEP; human rights in China; Syria, the Kurds and US credibility Allan and Darren kick off this week’s episode by covering a bad week for the United States’ Indo-Pacific strategy at the ASEAN and East Asia Summit meetings in Bangkok. Meanwhile Australia’s Defence Minister Linda Reynolds delivered a constructive speech in ...
10.22.2019 Ep. 32: The Australia-China Relationship On this week’s episode, Allan and Darren look to have a broader discussion about China, anchoring the conversation around Allan’s recent article in Australian Foreign Affairs, “History hasn’t ended: How to handle China”. On the larger and longer term questions ...
10.04.2019 Ep. 31: Debating PM Morrison’s Lowy Lecture Allan and Darren attempt their first “emergency” episode, recorded on Friday 4 October, the day after Prime Minister Morrison delivered the 2019 Lowy Lecture at the Sydney Town Hall. The conversation is structured around a commentary Allan wrote for the ...
10.01.2019 Ep. 30: Australia’s High Commissioners to Solomon Islands and Samoa discuss diplomacy in the Pacific In this special episode, Allan and Darren interview two of Australia’s currently serving ambassadors: Rod Brazier, High Commissioner to Solomon Islands, and Sara Moriarty, High Commissioner to Samoa. As Allan notes in his welcome, the podcast to date has not ...
09.24.2019 Ep. 29: PM Morrison visits the Trump White House; prisoners in Iran; energy security; a visit by Fiji’s PM; climate change On this week’s episode, Allan and Darren focus on Prime Minister Morrison’s official state visit to the United States this past week and his meetings with Donald Trump at the White House. What is a “state visit”, what could the ...

Older episodes