Lowy Institute

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Pirates and privateers private navies in the Indian Ocean May 24, 2012

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In response to more widespread Somali piracy attacks and soaring crew ransoms, shipping companies are turning to private military security companies to provide both armed guards and armed patrol boats to fight pirates in the Indian Ocean. At this Lowy Lecture, Military Fellow James Brown will discuss research findings from his forthcoming Lowy Institute Analysis "Pirates and Privateers" which considers the rise of private navies in the Indian Ocean in the past 12 months. His research traces the emergence of maritime private military security companies, details how they operate, and outlines the implications of their use for national governments and international organisations.
The Lowy Institute's research project "Privateers in Australia's Conflict and Disaster Zones" aims to examine issues behind the use of private military security companies in conflict and disaster zones where Australians might be deployed. The project is funded by and conducted in collaboration with the Australian Civil Military Centre, part of the Department of Defence.
James Brown served as an officer in the Australian Army prior to joining the Lowy Institute. He commanded a cavalry troop in Iraq, was attached to Special Forces in Afghanistan, and received a commendation for his work in the Solomon Islands. He also served as an instructor at the Army’s Combat Arms Training Centre and as an operational planner at the Australian Defence Force Headquarters Joint Operations Command. James studied economics at the University of Sydney and completed graduate studies in strategy at the University of New South Wales.
James is the Military Fellow within the International Security Program and the Project Coordinator of the MacArthur Foundation Asia Security Project.

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Barack vs Mitt: Chas Licciardello and Dr Michael Fullilove May 17, 2012

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After a drawn-out Republican primary process, the general election is finally on. What do we know about the styles and quirks of the two presidential contenders in 2012, Barack Obama and Mitt Romney? What are their strengths and weaknesses as campaigners? What is at stake, in terms of policy, in November – for Americans, for Australians, and for the world? And is this election campaign ever going to end?
The Lowy Institute is pleased to present a conversation on these topics between two keen observers of US politics, Chas Licciardello and Michael Fullilove. Chas is a member of The Chaser, the co-host of ABCNEWS24’s Planet America, and an obsessive reader of US blogs. Michael is the director of the Lowy Institute’s global issues program and a non-resident senior fellow in foreign policy at the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC

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Does foreign policy matter in the US presidential election? May 11, 2012

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Many pundits contend that with the economy such an important issue in the U.S. presidential election, foreign policy does not matter. It actually does, politically as well as for the U.S. role in the world. Jentleson examines the dynamics of the campaign thus far and the likely terms of foreign policy debate as we move towards election day.
Bruce Jentleson, Professor of Public Policy and Political Science at Duke University, is a leading scholar of American foreign policy and has served in a number of U.S. policy and political positions. From 2009-11 he was Senior Advisor to the U.S. State Department Policy Planning Director. He also served as a senior foreign policy advisor to Vice President Al Gore in his 2000 presidential campaign and in the 2008 Obama campaign as a member of the Phoenix Initiative and a co-author of Strategic Leadership: Framework for a 21st Century National Security Strategy. An author of several books on U.S. foreign policy, he currently serves on the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) Working Group, co-chaired by Madeleine Albright. His research appointments include the U.S. Institute of Peace, the Brookings Institution, Oxford University and the International Institute for Strategic Studies (London). His Ph.D. is from Cornell University.

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Forecasting genocide and politicide May 03, 2012

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Lowy Lecture Series - Benjamin Goldsmith presentation
At the Lowy Lecture on 2 May 2012, Benjamin Goldsmith presented findings from a project to develop a quantitative forecasting tool for serious political instability, mass atrocities, and genocide, including software which should be of use to policy-makers thinking ahead on a 1-5 year time horizon. The project, 'Understanding and Forecasting Political Instability, Mass Atrocities, and Genocide: Combining Social Science and Machine Learning Approaches' combines expertise from political science and computer science.

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Sino-American relations Apr 27, 2012

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For the first time in 20 years, the relationship with China played almost no part in the American Presidential election of 2008. President Obama has forged a low-key, pragmatic relationship with Beijing, but has not seen much success in building a workable "G2" that so many have called for. China kept Obama's visit to Washington in late 2009 deliberately low-key, and has refused to co-operate on the value of its currency, pressuring North Korea and Iran, or acting on global warming. Recently Washington has angered Beijing over Obama's meeting with the Dalai Lama and selling arms to Taiwan. Suisheng Zhao, one of the world pre-eminent watchers of the Sino-American relationship, explored the thinking underpinning the current relationship, and the dynamics driving the evolution of the relationship.

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Malaysian politics 2008 and beyond Apr 27, 2012

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The last twelve months have witnessed a turning point in post-independence Malaysian politics. In elections last March, the Barisan Nasional coalition and its dominant member, the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), suffered serious reversals. The prime ministership of Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi collapsed, initiating a fraught succession process to transfer power to his deputy Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak. The 'Mahathir period' and its 'Badawi twilight' are now passing, but Mahathirism may be experiencing a revival. What will happen? Can the resurrected Anwar Ibrahim provide the answer to this national predicament, or is he merely a symptom of it?

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Australias international policy Rudd Government Apr 27, 2012

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On 24 November a new Australian Government was elected under the leadership of Kevin Rudd, MP, a Chinese-speaking former diplomat with deep expertise in foreign policy.
At the Wednesday Lowy Lunch on 5 December a panel of analysts commented on prospective international policy under Mr Rudd's government.
The panellists included: Dr Malcolm Cook, Program Director, Asia & the Pacific; Dr Michael Fullilove, Program Director, Global Issues; and Rory Medcalf, Program Director International Security.

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Australias diplomatic deficit Apr 27, 2012

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The Lowy Institute Blue Ribbon Panel Report, 'Australia’s diplomatic deficit: reinvesting in our instruments of international policy', is the first major public review of Australia’s diplomatic network in over 20 years. Here, members of the Panel speak at the launch of the report on Wednesday 18 March 2009.
The Panel: Jillian Broadbent AO, Professor William Maley AM, Brad Orgill, Professor Peter Shergold AC, Ric Smith AO PSM and Allan Gyngell (Chairman).

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Nuclear disarmament Apr 27, 2012

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The global threat from nuclear weapons is growing, yet so too is a new international push for nuclear disarmament. On Wednesday 25 February 2009 at a lecture in the Lowy Institute's Distinguished Speakers Series, Professor Sir Lawrence Freedman examined what realistic assessments of the developing state of the international system might mean for current efforts to reduce nuclear dangers.
This event was held under the Lowy Institute's partnership with the Nuclear Security Project of the Nuclear Threat Initiative (www.nuclearsecurityproject.org). This project builds on the 2007 Wall Street Journal article 'A World Free of Nuclear Weapons' by George Shultz, William Perry, Henry Kissinger and Sam Nunn.

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2008 Lowy Lecture Apr 27, 2012

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The annual Lowy Lecture on Australia in the World is the highlight of our events calendar. The 2008 lecture was delivered by Mr Ian Macfarlane AC in Sydney on Wednesday 3 December 2008.
In this lecture Mr Macfarlane seeks to answer the question of what is different about this financial crisis from the seven previous crises of the deregulated era spanning the past thirty years, and the lessons we can draw from it.
Ian Macfarlane was Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia from 1996 to 2006. He has been a director of the Lowy Institute since its inception.

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