Lowy Institute Events

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney visited the Lowy Institute in Sydney for a special event on Wednesday 4 March 2026.

Speaking at a moment of acute global uncertainty, Prime Minister Carney reiterated his argument that the rules-based international order is not in transition but in rupture, and that middle powers like Canada and Australia cannot afford to wait for it to be restored. He outlined why sovereignty in the 21st century extends far beyond borders and defence, how middle powers can build collective strength through issue-based coalitions, and why legitimacy and trust are advantages the great powers cannot buy.

Prime Minister Carney also addressed the escalating conflict in the Middle East, Canada's recalibrated relationships with China, India, the United States, and United Nations, and his approach to dealing with President Trump.

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What went wrong with America's China strategy — and can it be fixed? 

In this Lowy Institute event, former US Assistant Secretary of Defense Ely Ratner traces America's long evolution from engagement to strategic competition. He delivers a pointed assessment of where the Trump administration has departed from that trajectory, and he sets out the implications for US allies, including Australia.

In conversation with the Lowy Institute's Sam Roggeveen, Dr Ratner also looks ahead to what a more serious US approach towards China would require.

This event was recorded at the State Library Victoria in Melbourne on Monday 16 February 2026.

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After barely a month, the year 2026 is already setting a bewildering geo-political pace. A presidential snatch-and-grab raid in Venezuela, anti-government riots in Iran, a fight over Greenland and a military upheaval in China have all buttressed Canadian Prime Minister, Mark Carney’s claim that the emerging new global order is a rupture, not a transition.

Hear from a panel of Lowy Institute experts as they examine what these diverse, dispersed events mean, both in and of themselves and for middle powers like Australia.

The panel was chaired by Richard McGregor, Senior Fellow for East Asia; and feature Susannah Patton, Director of the Southeast Asia Program and Project Lead for the Asia Power Index; James M. Zimmerman, a Beijing-based lawyer, author, and former Chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China; and Andreas Radtke, a former German diplomat, and head of the Friedrich-Ebert Foundation in Australia.

More episodes of the Lowy Institute's podcasts are available on your favourite podcast apps, including Spotify, YouTube and Apple.

Follow the Lowy Institute on our website, X, Instagram or LinkedIn.

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On 3 December, the Institute welcomed Senator Tim Ayres, Minister for Industry and Innovation and Minister for Science, to Bligh Street to launch the Australian Government’s National AI Plan. His speech outlined how we can harness the opportunities of AI, spread the benefits across society, and keep Australians safe.

More episodes of the Lowy Institute's podcasts are available on your favourite podcast apps, including Spotify, YouTube and Apple.

Follow the Lowy Institute on our website, X, Instagram or LinkedIn.

Watch this event on Youtube.

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Troy Bramston is a senior writer at The Australian and author of the new biography Gough Whitlam: The Vista of the New — the first comprehensive biography of Australia's 21st prime minister since his death in 2014. Drawing on newly opened archives and more than 100 interviews, Bramston offers fresh insights into one of the most consequential periods in Australian history.

Speaking with the Lowy Institute's Director of Research David Dutton in Sydney, Bramston examines Whitlam's opening to China, the end of White Australia, independence for Papua New Guinea, and the complexities of East Timor and the alliance with the United States. He explores how Whitlam's realpolitik approach transformed Australian diplomacy and why his legacy continues to shape our approach to the region today.

More episodes of the Lowy Institute's podcasts are available on your favourite podcast apps, including Spotify, YouTube and Apple.

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The Lowy Institute launched the 2025 edition of the Asia Power Index on 9 December in Melbourne.

Lydia Khalil convened this conversation with Susannah Patton, project lead for the Asia Power Index, Richard McGregor, senior fellow for East Asia at the Lowy Institute, and Professor Bec Strating, director of the La Trobe Centre for Global Security.

The panellists discussed the 2025 Asia Power Index findings, focusing on the shrinking power gap between the US and China, with the US experiencing decline due to Trump's tariff policies and reduced diplomatic engagement, while China positions itself as a stable regional partner. They also examined the challenges facing middle powers like Japan, South Korea and Southeast Asian nations, as well as Australia falling to sixth place amid questions about its ability to resource its growing security commitments in the region.

The Asia Power Index is the Lowy Institute's annual flagship publication tracking the changing distribution of power in Asia.

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Dr Michael Fullilove AM, Executive Director of the Lowy Institute, gave a speech to the Institute titled "Present at the Destruction" on Tuesday 29 November 2025. In these remarks, he reflects on the ABC Boyer Lectures he delivered a decade ago. ​

Dr Fullilove believes we are present at the destruction of an international order that served our interests well. The liberal order has become something illiberal and disorderly. On the other hand, the return of political stability to Australia's government should set us up to make bold decisions. He assesses Australia's international policies, in particular the stabilisation of relations with China, the energetic diplomacy in Southeast Asia and the Pacific and the agreements Canberra has signed with Pacific Island countries and Indonesia. In time, he hopes these agreements will come to form a latticework of mutual strategic trust.

This is the moment, Dr Fullilove suggests, for Australia to increase its investment in both diplomacy and deterrence. Our country should take on an even more demanding regional role, including by helping to coordinate the Indo-Pacific allies in their dealings with the Trump administration.

After his speech, Dr Fullilove joined the Institute’s Deputy Research Director Susannah Patton for a conversation.

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The Director-General of Security Mike Burgess delivered the 2025 Lowy Lecture before a packed Sydney Town Hall on Tuesday 4 November 2025.

In his address and subsequent conversation with the Lowy Institute's Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove, Mr Burgess spoke about the interplay between threats to Australian security, including those which emanate from abroad, and our country’s social cohesion.

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In this interview, the Lowy Institute's Sam Roggeveen speaks with one of Asia’s most respected and trenchant observers of modern geopolitics, Bilahari Kausikan, as he discusses his new Lowy Institute Paper, “The Myth of the Asian Century”.

"The Myth of the Asian Century" is published by Penguin. It is available in bookstores and as an e-book: https://www.penguin.com.au/books/the-myth-of-the-asian-century-a-lowy-institute-paper-penguin-special-9781761357992.

The Lowy Institute Papers are the Lowy Institute’s flagship publications. They are peer-reviewed essays and research papers on key international issues affecting Australia and the world.

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Two of Washington, DC's most respected journalists, Susan Glasser and Peter Baker, join the Lowy Institute's Executive Director, Dr Michael Fullilove, for a special conversation at the 2025 Lowy Institute Media Award Dinner.

Susan Glasser, appointed to the Lowy Institute Board in January 2025, is a staff writer at The New Yorker and has served as the top editor of several Washington publications, including Politico. Her books include Kremlin Rising and the New York Times bestseller The Man Who Ran Washington, covering Donald Trump’s first four years in the White House — both co-written with her husband, Peter Baker.

Peter Baker is the Chief White House Correspondent for The New York Times, covering President Trump and his administration. He joined The Times in 2008 after 20 years at The Washington Post and has covered the White House across six presidencies. Baker has written seven books, most recently The Divider: Trump in the White House, 2017–2021, also co-authored with Susan Glasser.

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