Diplomacy

The Lowy Institute's New Voices conference will be held in Port Moresby, Papua Guinea on 22 October, featuring prominent young Papua New Guineans and emerging leaders. 

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. Military Fellow James Brown discussed research findings from

Australia's political relationship with China is far less developed than its economic relationship. This is detrimental to Australia's interests because China is not merely an economic power but also a crucial political and security actor in the region. Underdeveloped political and strategic

Final submissions in Parliament's Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Inquiry into Australia's overseas representation were published by the Committee on 8 May 2012.  In their final submissions, Alex Oliver and Fergus Hanson answer further questions from

In an opinion piece in The Age, Lowy Institute Research Fellow Alex Oliver argues that since other countries take global broadcasting seriously, why don't we? The Age, 27 April 2012, p. 15

In an article for Foreignpolicy.com's Argument section, Lowy Institute Research Fellow Fergus Hanson asks whether the State Department's ambitious new plan to subvert autocratic regimes online can actually succeed.The article can be read here

In his latest column in American Review, the Lowy Institute’s Rory Medcalf looks at the growing use of twitter as a propaganda tool in warfare, from Afghanistan to Somalia.The column can be read here. 

This report is the first time the rapidly growing ediplomacy effort at the US State Department has been mapped. It reveals State now employs over 150 full-time ediplomacy personnel working in 25 different nodes at Headquarters. More than 900 people use ediplomacy at US missions abroad. The

On 30 August 2011 in Canberra, at a special event in the Lowy Institute's Distinguished Speaker Series, Mr Dennis Richardson, AO, Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, spoke on the topic 'DFAT: who are we, and what do we do?'Mr Richardson outlined the role of his department and

In his regular column in the August 2011 edition of the journal American Review, the Lowy Institute’s Rory Medcalf examines the value of twitter for foreign policy think tanks and journalists.The article can be accessed here:http://americanreviewmag.com/opinions/Advance-column-August-2011

Dr Michael Fullilove, Program Director Global Issues, published an article in The Atlantic on the similarities in the mode of operating of WikiLeaks and the News of the World. The article can be read at: http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/08/the-news-of-the-wikileaks-both-share-a-

In recent decades China has become a far more active and effective player in, and contributor to, the United Nations. However, according to Dr Michael Fullilove, the limits of this enhanced engagement are becoming clear. Dr Fullilove emphasises that while the West might advocate that China become a

In his latest Advance Column in the US Studies Centre journal American Review, Lowy Institute International Security Program Director Rory Medcalf reviews five important new books on Asian security, ranging across Sino-Japanese relations, China's naval ambitions and the challenges facing Indian

In this article in leading Spanish-language international affairs journal Politica Exterior, Lowy Institute program director Rory Medcalf examines the consequences of the publication of thousands of classified diplomatic cables by WikiLeaks.The original article in Spanish can be accessed at: http://

Almost overnight, the world has become wired. A huge proportion of the globe’s population now have access to a mobile phone and a rapidly increasing proportion of them are smart phones. As the Arab Spring demonstrated, this makes for rapid and unpredictable change. For public diplomacy

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

In an opinion piece in The Sydney Morning Herald, Lowy Institute Research Fellow Alex Oliver argues that recent cuts to the BBC World Service and Voice of America indicate that the West is in danger of losing its voice to the world if damaging cuts to international broadcasting and public diplomacy

In an article in The Sydney Morning Herald, Lowy Institute Executive Director Michael Wesley writes that the leaking of American diplomatic cables will only make governments more secretive.Sydney Morning Herald, 4 December 2010, p. 9

Australia’s military forces have often acted as effective agents of international policy. But while defence diplomacy has complemented Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade efforts, this has often been due to ad hoc coordination and personal initiative

Ediplomacy is no longer a boutique extra. Serious foreign ministries are embracing it to do their jobs more effectively and efficiently. Australia’s own Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has a lot of catching up to do. It also has a lot to gain.  

In an article in The Weekend Australian, Lowy Institute Research Associate Alex Oliver and Senior Research Fellow Andrew Shearer write that Australia's ability to have its voice heard overseas has been dangerously compromised.The Australian, 27 March 2010, Inquirer p. 4

The Honourable Dr Mike Kelly, AM MP, delivered the second Annual Dr John Gee Memorial Lecture, presented by the Lowy Institute for International Policy and The Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, ANU.Dr Kelly addressed the Rudd Government's approach to regional security and middle power diplomacy

Lowy Institute Deputy Director Martine Letts and Research Associate Ivan Cook contributed a chapter 'A Twilight Zone? Diplomacy and the International Committee of the Red Cross' to a book entitled 'Global governance and diplomacy: worlds apart?' The chapter reviews the ICRC’s evolving role as a

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