Publications

Wednesday Lunch at Lowy - Dr Geoff Raby presentation

Dr Geoff Raby

Summary
This year, China has been on public international display like no other time since the communists took power in 1949. Beijing hosted the Olympic and para-Olympic Games and 2008 is the thirtieth anniversary of China's open door economic policy reforms launched under Deng Xiaoping. The technical and organisational success of the Olympics will come to symbolise the transformational success of these policies. China today is unrecognisable from what it was before 'the door was opened'.

At the Wednesday Lunch at Lowy on 8 October, Dr Geoff Raby, the Australian Ambassador to the People's Republic of China, examined the questions: How much has China really changed? Is China a case of the more things change, the more they stay the same?

His presentation can be heard here:
How much has China really changed? - MP3 (17MB)

How much has China really changed? - MP3 (17MB)

Friday funny: A bit late, but...
This really should have been posted during the election campaign, but anyway, here's a piece of Shaun Micallef genius from his old ABC sketch series. (Incidentally, if there was any justice, Micallef...Read more

Other recent postsFriday economic linkage 9/11 retrospectives Reader riposte: Overheard in a café...

The 2010 Lowy Institute Poll

The sixth annual Lowy Institute Poll surveys Australian public opinion on a range of foreign policy issues. New questions this year cover the Rudd Government’s handling of foreign policy issues during its first term in office, whether Australia should develop nuclear weapons, attitudes towards Indonesia and US power, sanctions against Fiji and the morality of Australia’s foreign policy.

The Poll also repeated questions asked in previous years, revealing trends in public opinion on topics such as climate change, Australia’s military involvement in Afghanistan, and attitudes towards the United States and China.

A panel discussion about the poll can be heard here:
The 2010 Lowy Institute Poll - MP3 (23MB)Download item (1.3MB)

Power and choice: Asian security futures

Recent events in the seas off South Korea and Japan emphasise the fragility of Asia’s security order and the strains the region’s changing power distribution are placing on it. A new major Lowy Institute Asia Security Project report, 'Power and Choice: Asian Security Futures', analyses the likely security futures for Asia and Australia and recommends steps countries should take to ensure growing regional competition does not lead to conflict. This report was made possible by the generous support for the Project by the MacArthur Foundation.

A copy of the report, launched by Dennis Richardson, AO, the Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade on 1 June, can be downloaded here.Download item (6.5MB)