Australia is a country with considerable, if under-utilised, reserves of soft power – the ability to achieve influence internationally via attraction rather than compulsion. In this presentation Professor Ben Reilly will discuss some claims regarding Australian soft power, including our democratic political system, multicultural society, and open economy, all based on broad-based norms of social equality and the rule of law. It will then discuss how these ideas have found their way into recent Australian foreign policy doctrine via recent White Papers, in which norms and values have been elevated to frame the Indo-Pacific region.

Australian soft power (and soft thinking) in the Indo-Pacific

Podcasts from the Australian Institute of International Affairs www.internationalaffairs.org.au

News & Politics

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.

Australia's Regional Security: Keeping our Balance

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.

Future Smart Foods and Global Food Security

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.

A Critical Juncture in the History of Pakistan

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.

Malaysia: First 100 Days of the Anwar Government - How Many More?

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.

Australian soft power (and soft thinking) in the Indo-Pacific

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