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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