Rear Vision — How History Shaped Today

Donald Trump and China’s Xi Jinping are due to meet in Beijing in the near future, following a March postponement. China’s wish to subsume democratic Taiwan is certain to be one of the topics on the summit agenda. President Xi has reportedly instructed his military to be at capacity for an invasion by 2027, so 2026 could be Taiwan’s last year of freedom. Some analysts fear US military action in Iran and Venezuela may embolden Beijing. The Chinese Communist Party justifies its claim to Taiwan based on what it calls its “One China Principle”. But what exactly does “One China” mean?

Guests:

Jessica Drun – Washington-based China and Taiwan analyst

Dr Andrew Phillips – Professor of International Relations, University of Queensland 

Dr Mei-fen Kuo – lecturer in Contemporary Chinese Culture and History, Macquarie University

Dr Sow Keat Tok – Asia Institute, University of Melbourne

Dr Mark Harrison – Senior Lecturer, Chinese Studies, University of Tasmania

A wide-angle lens on the history of Innovation.

An unprecedented surge in human ingenuity has created six great waves of innovation.

What drove these breakthroughs? And where are we headed?

The government of Singapore this year sacked the leader of the Opposition — that's the way things happen in Singaporean politics. Though it looks like a model Westminster democracy, critics say it's actually a one-party state, dominated for more than 60 years by the People's Action Party. So, how is it that such a prosperous and modern nation has never managed to free itself from the long shadow of its authoritarian founder, Lee Kuan Yew.

Guests:

Dr Stephan Ortmann — Assistant Professor of Politics and Public Administration, Hong Kong Metropolitan University

Dr Michael Barr — Associate Professor of International relations, Flinders University

Dr Gillian Koh — Senior Research Fellow, Institute of Policy Studies, National University of Singapore

Joshua Kurlantzick — Senior Fellow for SE Asia and South Asia, Council on Foreign Relations

China is now the number one trading partner of South America.

How realistic are U.S. plans to dominate the Western hemisphere?

High speed rail spread around the globe from the 1960s when the first bullet trains took off in Japan. Rear Vision looks at why previous attempts to introduce high speed rail in Australia have failed.

Japan opened the world's first high-speed rail line - between Tokyo and Osaka - in time for the 1964 Olympics. Japan’s ‘Bullet Train’ was the first to run on a dedicated line – a high speed service for passengers only. Over the last 30 years, millions of dollars have been spent in Australia on studies and proposals but is a fast train service on the east coast any closer?

Since the 1970s central banks around the world have increasingly become “independent” of government. They’ve developed that way over time to ensure that monetary policy isn’t impacted by partisan political motives. But there are those who now seek to turn the clock back and to rein in that independence. The current US president is at the front of the pack.

Guests:

John Hawkins – Head of the Canberra School of Government, University of Canberra https://Dr Isaac Gross

Links:

Bangladesh is having its first free and fair election in over 18 years.

Rear Vision looks back at the tumultuous history of this young nation.

Only a few decades ago China was known as the land of the bicycle – today it’s an automotive goliath. The PRC is now the world’s biggest car manufacturer and exporter. It also has the largest domestic car market. We explore how it achieved such a dramatic turnaround in only a few short decades. And what role European and American car makers inadvertently played in creating a super rival. 

Guests: 

Ilaria Mazzocco – Chinese business and economic expert, Center for Strategic and International Studies 

Dr Tessa Thorniley – freelance business journalist 

Zeyi Yang – technology journalist and senior writer, WIRED 

Mike Colias – Us Autos Editor, Reuters 

Since the start of the 20th century, oil has been the lifeblood of global development. Today, the story behind oil — and the politics of supplying oil and denying oil.

From sanctions to tariffs to seizing oil fields — it feels like we've entered a new age of economic warfare. But experts say we're really just returning to the past. To the time before the rules-based international order was established at the end of the Second World War.

Gunboat diplomacy it seems is once again de rigueur.

Guests

William Alan Reinsch — Senior advisor, Center for Strategic and International Studies

Saadia Zahidid — Economist and Managing Director of the World Economic Forum

Markus Jaeger — Adjunct professor, International and Public Affairs, Columbia SIPA

Abraham Newman — Professor of Government, Georgetown University. Author of Underground Empire: How America Weaponized the World Economy (Holt/Penguin 2023)

Hugo Slim — Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict, University of Oxford