The Readout

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Welcome to our one-off special episode of The Readout.

Recent events have put aid, China and the Indo-Pacific squarely on the map for many Australians. So there was no better a time for The Lab to host Anka Lee, USAID’s acting Deputy Assistant Administrator and Senior Advisor for the PRC, at our Situation Room just last week. He was in Australia on behalf of USAID who are creating a policy on countering China’s growing influence.

The Situation Room is a Chatham-house style discussion with 25 provocateurs from the region, academia, development practice and Government. So we didn’t record the whole event. But with his permission, we’re bringing you Anka Lee’s opening address and a flavour of the discussion in this special episode.

He dives into the challenges that USAID is trying to solve when it comes to China and development, and what principles they’ll take into developing a response. The Lab's own Bridi Rice then tackles what all of this means for Australia and how our own narratives determine where to from here.

To learn more about The Readout and the work of the Development Intelligence Lab, head over to devintelligencelab.com and find us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

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Welcome to Part Five of our Democracy Series, with Blake Chrystal (USAID).

We’ve heard a lot about the different approaches of the US compared with Australia. So how does the US go about democracy promotion?

Series host Bridi Rice shares her conversations with Blake, including what’s on the agenda for USAID as they look to the future.

Want to learn more? Find our essay publication on this issue, here.

To learn more about The Readout and the work of the Development Intelligence Lab, head over to devintelligencelab.com and find us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Happy listening.

- The Lab.

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Welcome to Part Four of our Democracy Series, with Dr Nicola Nixon and Peter Yates (The Asia Foundation).

What exactly does ‘democracy promotion’ mean in real terms? How do practitioners approach the work? And critically – what’s the challenge with adopting a US-style approach to the issue?

Series host Bridi Rice shares her conversations with Nicola and Peter, where she gets stuck into the gnarly issue of being loud about democracy in the region.

Want to learn more? Find our essay publication, including an essay from Nicola and Peter, here.

To learn more about The Readout and the work of the Development Intelligence Lab, head over to devintelligencelab.com and find us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Happy listening.

- The Lab.

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Welcome to Part Three of our Democracy Series, with Professor John Blaxland (Australian National University).

So we’ve heard why governance support is critical for prosperity in the region. But just how seriously should Australia take this? According to one of Australia’s top security experts – very.

Series host Bridi Rice shares her conversations with John, where she learns that governance challenges in the region is one of the top threats to our national security.

Want to learn more? Find our essay publication, including an essay from John, here.

To learn more about The Readout and the work of the Development Intelligence Lab, head over to devintelligencelab.com and find us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Happy listening.

- The Lab.

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Welcome to Part Two of our Democracy Series, with Serena Sasingian (The Voice).

To learn more about the state of democracy, and what the Summit will mean for the region, let’s start where we should – with a Pacific perspective.

Series host Bridi Rice shares what she’s learnt from her conversations with Serena – including how a particular speech at APEC in 2018 paints an interesting picture for the Summit.

Want to learn more? Find our essay publication, including an essay from Serena, here.

To learn more about The Readout and the work of the Development Intelligence Lab, head over to devintelligencelab.com and find us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Happy listening.

- The Lab.

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Welcome to Part One of our Democracy Series, with Richard Maude (Asia Society) and Bryce Wakefield (Australian Institute for International Affairs).

President Biden has just held the first Summit for Democracy. What will it mean for the Indo-Pacific? Before we dive into the complexities for our region, let’s find out what happened at the Summit.

Series host Bridi Rice speaks to Bryce and Richard about Australia’s position as we went into the Summit, what happened, and the commitments made.

Want to learn more? Find our essay publication, including a foreword from Richard Maude, here.

To learn more about The Readout and the work of the Development Intelligence Lab, head over to devintelligencelab.com and find us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Happy listening.

- The Lab.

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We’re stoked to introduce the first series of the Readout: Democracy. Hosted by Lab CEO Bridi Rice, this short series takes you behind the scenes of our latest project, investigating what US President Biden’s Summit for Democracy will mean for the Indo-Pacific.

Nationalism, populism, political polarisation and identity politics are challenging liberalism and institutions in democracies worldwide. More countries are abandoning democracy than embracing it. Overlay all of this with geostrategic competition, and a potential ‘clash of systems’ between liberal democracy and autocracy is brought into sharp focus.

President Biden argues that democracy must ‘prove itself,’ reasoning that this will be key to competing with China and Russia. But development experts warn against weaponizing democracy, instead favouring a nuanced investment in governance, service delivery and accountability in developing regions by donors.

Caught amidst the debate are policy-makers unsure where to invest their aid dollar – promote democracy and risk being accused of intervening in the sovereign affairs of another nation, or do nothing and be accused of standing by amidst egregious human rights violations?

In this series, we’re speaking to academics, practitioners, and regional leaders as we work through what the Summit for Democracy will mean for our region. Watch out for the Lab’s publication on this topic, Develop, featuring four essays from some of the guests you get to know in this series.

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The Readout is a podcast hosted by the Development Intelligence Lab.

At the Lab, we’re tackling the big issues of development cooperation in the Indo-Pacific. We take one gnarly issue at a time, gather the best of the best from the region, Government, and academia, and dive deep to unpack the issue – and find the way forward.

And our favourite part of these projects is the conversations we have along the way. So here on The Readout, we take you behind the scenes to let you in on the phone calls, the coffees, and the lightbulb moments that shaped each project.

Learn more about The Readout and the work of the Development Intelligence Lab at devintelligencelab.com.

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