Lowy Institute

China blocked trade, froze out ministers, and left lobsters rotting on the tarmac, and still couldn't force Australia to budge. In this episode of Lowy Institute Conversations, former Australian ambassador to Beijing Graham Fletcher joins Research Director Mihai Sora to discuss what "stabilisation" really means for the Australia–China relationship — from rare earths and the Port of Darwin to Taiwan and the ever-present shadow cast from Washington. Fletcher argues the current "sweet spot" is harder won — and more fragile — than it looks.

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The way authoritarian and illiberal states interact has changed. China, Russia, Iran and North Korea have gone from defending themselves against perceived liberal pressure to actively building the institutions of an alternative order. In this episode of Lowy Institute Conversations, Nick Bisley, the author of a new Lowy Institute paper analysing this cooperation, speaks with the Institute's Sam Roggeveen about the boot camps teaching authoritarian states how to control information, the improbable rise of BRICS, and why this messy, opportunistic coalition might be harder to counter than a formal alliance ever was.

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India matters to Australia more than ever — as a strategic partner, a major trading economy, and a fellow member of the Quad — at a moment when Indo-Pacific security is deeply contested. Hear from leading experts as they examine the India–Australia relationship and how the two countries can deepen their collaboration to help shape a secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific.

Building on the momentum of Prime Minister Modi's recent visit to Australia, the panel explores the evolving architecture of defence cooperation between the two nations, and whether this partnership is consolidating into a strategic entente capable of meeting the demands of an increasingly contested region.

The conversation was moderated by Sam Roggeveen, Director of the Lowy Institute’s International Security Program, and featured Dhruva Jaishankar, the inaugural Dr Ram Sethi Fellow at the Lowy Institute and Executive Director of Observer Research Foundation America, as well as Shruti Pandalai, the inaugural Lowy Institute India Chair.

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Australia calls itself the Pacific's partner of choice. But is the relationship built on mutual understanding, or is it driven by Canberra’s anxiety about China? 

Professor Joanne Wallis, the author of a new book with Jack Corbett, Neighbours, joins the Lowy Institute’s Serena Sasingian to discuss Australia's uneasy colonial history in the region, the gap between its "Pacific family" rhetoric and its strategy of denial, and why aid hasn't bought the influence Canberra hoped for. 

Wallis makes the case for a different frame altogether: not family, not chessboard, but neighbours.

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Power politics is intensifying. Economies are sputtering. Living standards are falling. Societal change is dizzying. When Australians look at the world today, they don’t like what they see. 

Now in its 22nd year, the 2026 Lowy Institute Poll captures how Australians feel about a world order that is rapidly slipping away.

With economic pessimism on the rise and feelings of safety deteriorating, Australians have come to see the United States and China as two superpowers they distrust in equal measure.

As the liberal international order gives way to something that is illiberal and disorderly, the Poll offers insight into how the public feels about Australia’s place in a more troubling world.

Hear from the Poll's author, Charles Lyons-Jones, alongside the Hon Dr Andrew Leigh, Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition and Charities and Nicola Smith, Canberra Bureau Chief of the Australian Financial Review. 

This event was recorded on Thursday 2 July 2026 at the National Press Club in Canberra.

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What can Southeast Asia learn from the conflict in the Persian Gulf and should we be worried about the next maritime flashpoint closer to home?

At a Lowy Institute event at the National Press Club, Sam Roggeveen was joined by three leading Southeast Asia experts to explore Asia's maritime hotspots.

They discussed the economic shockwaves from the Strait of Hormuz conflict, the very different dynamics of the Strait of Malacca, the Taiwan contingency and what it means for regional states, and the persistent question of whether AUKUS is stabilising or complicating the region's security environment.

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Global progress on gender equality is stalling, and in some places going backwards. The World Economic Forum estimates that, at current rates, Asia and the Pacific won't reach gender parity for 179 years. In this episode, host Roland Rajah is joined by Grace Stanhope (Lowy Institute) and Professor Katrina Lee-Koo (University of Queensland) to analyse why gender equality is under siege. They discuss shrinking aid budgets, the politicisation of gender in foreign policy, and the retreat of the United States from global development. They ask what's working, why "gender mainstreaming" might have hit its limits, and where Australia could make an outsized difference as a middle power. 

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It's been the busiest fortnight in Australia–Pacific diplomacy in recent memory. In the space of ten days, Australia signed the Nakamal Agreement with Vanuatu, the Vuvale Union and a surprise Ocean of Peace Alliance with Fiji, and saw the Pukpuk Treaty with Papua New Guinea come into effect — all while marking Solomon Islands Independence Day and flagging a comprehensive treaty with Honiara by year's end.

On the very same day the Fiji deals were signed, China tested a submarine-launched ballistic missile over the Pacific, sparking claims of a deliberate signal to the region.

Sam Roggeveen is joined by Dr Connor Graham to unpack the missile test, why Pacific nations have responded more cautiously than Australia and New Zealand, and what China really wants from the region.

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As India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Australia for the third time, new Lowy Institute polling reveals a curious paradox: Australians now trust India more than the United States or China, yet many Australians can't name its leader. The Lowy Institute’s Dr Ram Sethi Fellow, Dhruva Jaishankar, joins India Chair Shruti Pandalai to analyse what's driving the relationship's rapid growth in defence, trade and education — and why understanding remains stubbornly shallow.

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Australians increasingly see China as an economic partner rather than a security threat — while still bracing for it as a long-term military risk.

That's one of the striking findings from the 22nd Lowy Institute Poll, launched in Sydney. At the launch, Poll author Charlie Lyons-Jones joined Lowy Institute India Chair Shruti Pandalai and The Interpreter's Managing Editor Dan Flitton, moderated by Research Director Mihai Sora, to unpack a poll that shows record numbers of Australians feeling unsafe in the world, trust in the US at an all-time low, and the gap between how much Australians trust America and China narrowing to just three points.

The panel covers Australians' growing sense of insecurity in the world, with 53 per cent now saying they feel unsafe, a record high for the poll. Trust in the US has fallen to a record low of 31 per cent, while trust in China has climbed to 28 per cent, narrowing the gap between the two powers to just three points. Support for AUKUS remains firm despite wavering confidence in Washington, and a majority of Australians still back the US alliance even as confidence in President Trump collapses. The panel also discusses Australian attitudes to India ahead of Prime Minister Modi's visit, and what that visit needs to achieve. They explore waning public support for Ukraine as the war drags on, rising concern that the risks of AI outweigh its benefits, and what the poll's findings on climate concern reveal about the mood driving Australian politics.

Read the full 2026 Lowy Institute Poll at lowyinstitute.org.

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.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.