The Lowy Institute

Today’s global economic growth is decisively Asian. ADB’s Asian Development Outlook 2011 provides a comprehensive analysis of macroeconomic issues in developing Asia. The Asian Development Outlook 2011 includes this year’s special theme chapter on South-South economic linkages. At this Wednesday Lowy Lunch, the ADB's Principal Economist, Dr Donghyun Park and the head of ADB in Australia, Eugenue Zhukov, presented an overview of the report and addressed some specific issues.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Fukushima crisis has provoked a furious debate about the future of nuclear energy. Polling in Australia shows a return to a solid majority opposing nuclear power for Australia as part of our future energy mix. The Australian political leadership has declared the subject out of bounds. At a special Wednesday Lowy Lunch on 20 April, three expert industry panellists discussed the future of nuclear energy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On 30 March, in the first of the Lowy Institute’s Food for Thought lectures for this year, Cate Sumner and Tim Lindsey discussed how the Indonesian Islamic courts have embraced reform within a judicial system notorious for corruption and incompetence, taking the lead in efforts to deliver decisions that are more accessible, transparent and fair, especially for women and the poor. Indeed the courts have become models of socially oriented judicial reform, for both non-religious courts in Indonesia and also for Islamic courts elsewhere in Southeast Asia.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With the creation of the Northern Command in 2002 and the Africa Command in 2007 the US military became the first truly global military presence in history. US Combatant Commanders are often called ‘proconsuls’ in a worldwide network of US military bases. This situation poses many problems for a republic that is historically suspicious of military power. On 23 March, Professor Douglas Stuart addressed three of these problems.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Technology and the rapid spread of the internet and mobile phones are changing the way diplomacy is being conducted. Leading diplomatic services are adapting, but many are being left behind. New digital tools mean foreign ministries need to change the way they communicate, manage staff, pursue foreign policy goals and solve problems. Australia’s own Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has a lot of catching up to do. It also has a lot to gain from adopting these new platforms. This Wednesday Lowy Lunch was delivered by Fergus Hanson, author of the recent Lowy Institute Policy Brief, A digital DFAT: joining the 21st century.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On 16 March, as part of our Distinguished Speaker Series, Frederic S. Mishkin spoke on the global financial system after the Global Financial Crisis. Professor Mishkin is the Alfred Lerner Professor of Banking and Financial Institutions at the Graduate School of Business, Columbia University.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At a lecture at the Lowy Institute on 10 March, World Bank Senior Economist Apurva Sanghi discussed a thought-provoking report by the World Bank and the United Nations. 'Natural Hazards, UnNatural Disasters: The Economics of Effective Prevention' will change the way we look at disaster prevention.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Climate change is real and a significant challenge facing humanity. In this event in the Lowy Institute’s Distinguished Speaker Series, Bjørn Lomborg and Michael Green, two world-leading experts on the subject of climate change, will addressed the need for innovative solutions to achieve significant results, and how our actions can affect related issues: poverty, disease and the lack of affordable housing worldwide.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Lowy Institute was privileged to host Ms Joan Rohlfing, President of the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), the world's premier non-government organisation addressing the dangers of nuclear weapons.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

International conflicts have declined dramatically over the past 60 years. At the Wednesday Lowy Lunch on 23 February, Professor Andrew Mack examined the nature of these positive changes, their causes and their implications for international security policies.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On 8 February, Mr Pierre Krähenbühl, Director of Operations of the International Committee of the Red Cross (the ICRC) addressed the Lowy Institute on the subject of how recent trends in integrated missions, the militarisation of aid and increasingly complex coordination challenges are impacting on the international community’s ability to deliver humanitarian assistance and how we might help build greater community resilience to conflict.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On 2 February, the second half of the Wednesday Lunch series was launched with a discussion by three Lowy Institute scholars, Rory Medcalf, Annmaree O'Keeffe and Sam Roggeveen, on how Australia should be preparing for some of the big global and regional policy challenges in the second decade of the 21st century.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On Wednesday 19 January 2011, as part of our Distinguished Speaker Series, The Rt Hon William Hague MP, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs of the United Kingdom, spoke at the Lowy Institute on opportunities for the Commonwealth in a networked world.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On Friday 10 December, the Lowy Institute brought together the Hon Dr Craig Emerson MP, Minister for Trade, and an expert panel including Alex Thursby, the Chief Executive Officer, Asia Pacific, Europe & America, ANZ Banking Group and Anwarul Hoda, the Chair Professor of ICRIER’s Trade Policy and WTO Research Program in New Delhi, for a keynote speech and an extended discussion on the forces shaping Australia’s trade policy environment.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On Wednesday 8 December, Cate Sumner and Tim Lindsey launched their new Lowy Institute Paper, 'Courting reform'. Opening remarks on the paper were provided by the Chief Justice of the Family Court of Australia, The Hon. Diana Bryant, and Chief Justice of the Federal Court of Australia, The Hon. Patrick Keane.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In his new Analysis, 'The stakeholder spectrum: China and the United Nations', Michael Fullilove describes how China conducts itself in New York and the positions it takes on issues such as peacekeeping, Iran and North Korea. He lays out these approaches on what he calls a ‘stakeholder spectrum’.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In March 2011 the National Museum of Australia will celebrate the tenth anniversary of the opening of its building in Canberra. We are well used to the idea that the Museum has a role in explaining national identity. Yet the National Museum - like museums around the world - has to make a place for itself not only in a national context but in a global one. At the Wednesday Lunch at Lowy on 1 December, the Museum’s Director, Andrew Sayers, explored the new phenomenon of the 'world museum' that has developed as institutions in Britain, Europe and the United States have become engaged with global communities, including Australia.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On 30 November 2010, the Lowy Institute was pleased to host a major address on asylum policy by Scott Morrison, the Shadow Minister for Productivity and Population and Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship. In his speech, 'A real solution', Scott outlined a comprehensive global, regional and domestic approach to this complex and controversial issue.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On Friday 5 November, two leading commentators on US politics and foreign policy, Dr Michael Fullilove and Daniel Flitton, provided some immediate analysis of the mid-term results as part of the Lowy Institute’s ‘Food for Thought’ program in Melbourne.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On 25 November, as part of the Institute's Distinguished Speaker Series, Ethan Nadelmann, Director of the US Drug Policy Alliance, argued that the 'war on drugs' has been ineffective, counterproductive and expensive, with dire consequences for national and international stability. He analysed the evolution of global drug control during the 20th century, the growing movement for reform, and potential futures for global drug control.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.