Geopolitical strategist Parag Khanna joins the Lowy Institute's Sam Roggeveen to make sense of a world in flux.

In a wide-ranging conversation recorded on the day President Trump declared the Iran war nearly over, the pair discuss what the conflict reveals about multipolarity, why Mark Carney's Davos speech resonated more than expected, and why every attempt to unwind globalisation ends up deepening it.

More episodes of the Lowy Institute's podcasts are available on your favourite podcast apps, including Spotify, YouTube and Apple.

Follow the Lowy Institute on our website, X, Instagram or LinkedIn.

Geopolitical strategist Parag Khanna joins the Lowy Institute's Sam Roggeveen to make sense of a world in flux.
In a wide-ranging conversation recorded on the day President Trump declared the Iran war nearly over, the pair discuss what the conflict reveals about multipolarity, why Mark Carney's Davos speech resonated more than expected, and why every attempt to unwind globalisation ends up deepening it.
More episodes of the Lowy Institute's podcasts are available on your favourite podcast apps, including&nbsp;<a href="https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fopen.spotify.com%2Fshow%2F1CMTUWiszBFIq3UoIXW7mJ%3Fsi%3D9a8671e772364062%26nd%3D1%26dlsi%3Da2545d11f6f34d6e&amp;data=05%7C02%7CCCaldwell%40lowyinstitute.org%7Cdf2253bf2a8645900fec08de6375004f%7C1fb32338ad1940db98fdc701f150c316%7C0%7C0%7C639057551324026127%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=vuuqYi2Ge46zIai6AQv1GEshCFdMvxChf%2Fu8FiOEu8A%3D&amp;reserved=0">Spotify</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fplaylist%3Flist%3DPL0bvjLds5_8SzwlqtE2U1NjCD3ftO3-QZ&amp;data=05%7C02%7CCCaldwell%40lowyinstitute.org%7Cdf2253bf2a8645900fec08de6375004f%7C1fb32338ad1940db98fdc701f150c316%7C0%7C0%7C639057551324051410%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=SNKL4SD1uY8Q%2BE6u5GTyCvbVkKnFC5DpG8c5NQLkFrA%3D&amp;reserved=0">YouTube</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpodcasts.apple.com%2Fau%2Fpodcast%2Flowy-institute%2Fid191062366&amp;data=05%7C02%7CCCaldwell%40lowyinstitute.org%7Cdf2253bf2a8645900fec08de6375004f%7C1fb32338ad1940db98fdc701f150c316%7C0%7C0%7C639057551324065273%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=kHVnZP0Ul0I70SDl4wRsQqBnybDrUbNB8Wv%2BSm6%2FuOw%3D&amp;reserved=0">Apple</a>.
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Welcome to Lowy Institute Conversations – a podcast in which Lowy Institute researchers and some of the world’s leading experts delve into the big issues in international affairs.  

Welcome to Lowy Institute Conversations – a podcast in which Lowy Institute researchers and some of the world’s leading experts delve into the big issues in international affairs.

Lowy Institute Conversations

The Lowy Institute is a leading international think tank that looks at the world from Australia’s perspective.

This channel aggregates audio from across all of our event and podcast channels.

The Lowy Institute is a leading international think tank that looks at the world from Australia’s perspective.
This channel aggregates audio from across all of our event and podcast channels.

Lowy Institute

Welcome to Lowy Institute Conversations — a podcast in which Lowy Institute researchers and some of the world’s leading experts delve into the big issues in international affairs.

Welcome to Lowy Institute Conversations &mdash; a podcast in which Lowy Institute researchers and some of the world&rsquo;s leading experts delve into the big issues in international affairs.

Globalisation always wins: Parag Khanna on the emerging world order, Iran, and Asia's multipolar future

Myanmar has been in a state of violent upheaval since the military seized power in 2021, leading to a nationwide resistance and the collapse of vital state functions. Myanmar’s parliament recently convened for the first time in five years, with the former commander-in-chief Min Aung Hlaing appointed as president. Hunter Marston, Director of the Lowy Institute’s Southeast Asia Program, and Sean Turnell, a Senior Fellow in the Southeast Asia Program and former economic adviser to Aung San Suu Kyi, discuss the current state of the resistance in Myanmar, prospects for the country’s economy, and what the international community can do to encourage dialogue between all parties.

More episodes of the Lowy Institute's podcasts are available on your favourite podcast apps, including Spotify, YouTube and Apple.

Follow the Lowy Institute on our website, X, Instagram or LinkedIn.

Myanmar has been in a state of violent upheaval&nbsp;since the military seized power in 2021, leading to a nationwide resistance and the collapse of vital state functions. Myanmar&rsquo;s parliament recently convened for the first time in five years, with the former commander-in-chief Min Aung Hlaing appointed as president. Hunter Marston, Director of the Lowy Institute&rsquo;s Southeast Asia Program, and Sean Turnell, a Senior Fellow in the Southeast Asia Program and former economic adviser to Aung San Suu Kyi, discuss the current state of the resistance in Myanmar, prospects for the country&rsquo;s economy, and what the international community can do to encourage dialogue between all parties.
More episodes of the Lowy Institute's podcasts are available on your favourite podcast apps, including&nbsp;<a href="https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fopen.spotify.com%2Fshow%2F1CMTUWiszBFIq3UoIXW7mJ%3Fsi%3D9a8671e772364062%26nd%3D1%26dlsi%3Da2545d11f6f34d6e&amp;data=05%7C02%7CCCaldwell%40lowyinstitute.org%7Cdf2253bf2a8645900fec08de6375004f%7C1fb32338ad1940db98fdc701f150c316%7C0%7C0%7C639057551324026127%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=vuuqYi2Ge46zIai6AQv1GEshCFdMvxChf%2Fu8FiOEu8A%3D&amp;reserved=0">Spotify</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fplaylist%3Flist%3DPL0bvjLds5_8SzwlqtE2U1NjCD3ftO3-QZ&amp;data=05%7C02%7CCCaldwell%40lowyinstitute.org%7Cdf2253bf2a8645900fec08de6375004f%7C1fb32338ad1940db98fdc701f150c316%7C0%7C0%7C639057551324051410%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=SNKL4SD1uY8Q%2BE6u5GTyCvbVkKnFC5DpG8c5NQLkFrA%3D&amp;reserved=0">YouTube</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpodcasts.apple.com%2Fau%2Fpodcast%2Flowy-institute%2Fid191062366&amp;data=05%7C02%7CCCaldwell%40lowyinstitute.org%7Cdf2253bf2a8645900fec08de6375004f%7C1fb32338ad1940db98fdc701f150c316%7C0%7C0%7C639057551324065273%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=kHVnZP0Ul0I70SDl4wRsQqBnybDrUbNB8Wv%2BSm6%2FuOw%3D&amp;reserved=0">Apple</a>.
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Myanmar at a crossroads: Five years after the coup

On the eve of the upcoming Trump-Xi summit, Donald Trump's approach to China looks less like strategic competition and more like a search for a deal. In this episode, Richard McGregor speaks with Lowy Institute Nonresident Fellow and former Biden White House official, Thomas Wright, about what the Trump–Xi summit reveals, why the 2025 tariff war ended badly for Washington, and how the Democratic Party is reckoning with its own foreign policy legacy. Wright also makes the case that the world now faces not one American foreign policy, but two — and must plan accordingly.

You can access Tom Wright’s Lowy Institute Paper Inflection Point: Biden, Trump, and the Future World Order here: https://www.lowyinstitute.org/publications/inflection-point-biden-trump-future-world-order

More episodes of the Lowy Institute's podcasts are available on your favourite podcast apps, including Spotify, YouTube and Apple.

Follow the Lowy Institute on our website, X, Instagram or LinkedIn.

On the eve of the upcoming Trump-Xi summit, Donald Trump's approach to China looks less like strategic competition and more like a search for a deal. In this episode, Richard McGregor speaks with Lowy Institute Nonresident Fellow and former Biden White House official, Thomas Wright, about what the Trump&ndash;Xi summit reveals, why the 2025 tariff war ended badly for Washington, and how the Democratic Party is reckoning with its own foreign policy legacy. Wright also makes the case that the world now faces not one American foreign policy, but two &mdash; and must plan accordingly.
You can access Tom Wright&rsquo;s Lowy Institute Paper Inflection Point: Biden, Trump, and the Future World Order here: <a href="https://www.lowyinstitute.org/publications/inflection-point-biden-trump-future-world-order">https://www.lowyinstitute.org/publications/inflection-point-biden-trump-future-world-order</a>
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Trump-Xi summit: Has America abandoned strategic competition with China?

For years, the conventional wisdom held that the United States retained a decisive lead over China in the technologies and industries that will define the 21st century. The 2025 report of the US–China Economic and Security Review Commission to Congress challenges that view, and its conclusions make for sobering reading.

Ahead of the Trump–Xi summit where trade and technology are on the table, the Commission finds that China has not only caught up with but in multiple sectors now leads advanced economies including the United States. From electric vehicles and solar panels to quantum computing pathways and pharmaceutical supply chains, Beijing’s combination of state direction, entrepreneurial competition, and sustained investment has produced results that Western policymakers are only beginning to reckon with.

In this episode, the Lowy Institute's Richard McGregor speaks with Randy Schriver and Mike Kuiken — vice-chairs of the Commission — about what their report found and what it means. They discuss China’s model of directed innovation, the case for a consolidated US economic statecraft entity, the multiple “choke points” China now holds over industrialised economies, and what sustained engagement in the Pacific, including by Australia, must look like to be effective. They also assess the military situation around Taiwan and the second-order implications of the ongoing conflict with Iran.

Randy Schriver served as Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs in the first Trump administration. Mike Kuiken is a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution and a former senior adviser to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

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For years, the conventional wisdom held that the United States retained a decisive lead over China in the technologies and industries that will define the 21st century.&nbsp;<a href="https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.uscc.gov%2Fannual-report%2F2025-annual-report-congress&amp;data=05%7C02%7CCCaldwell%40lowyinstitute.org%7C01268c5c04394021422608deafbff079%7C1fb32338ad1940db98fdc701f150c316%7C0%7C0%7C639141436078845007%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=B14DuMHpQYEGCyR5pSi2oRKcbxRkJzi4vGBi39s9slM%3D&amp;reserved=0">The 2025 report of the US&ndash;China Economic and Security Review Commission to Congress</a> challenges that view, and its conclusions make for sobering reading.
Ahead of the Trump&ndash;Xi summit where trade and technology are on the table, the Commission finds that China has not only caught up with but in multiple sectors now leads advanced economies including the United States. From electric vehicles and solar panels to quantum computing pathways and pharmaceutical supply chains, Beijing&rsquo;s combination of state direction, entrepreneurial competition, and sustained investment has produced results that Western policymakers are only beginning to reckon with.
In this episode, the Lowy Institute's Richard McGregor speaks with Randy Schriver and Mike Kuiken &mdash; vice-chairs of the Commission &mdash; about what their report found and what it means. They discuss China&rsquo;s model of directed innovation, the case for a consolidated US economic statecraft entity, the multiple &ldquo;choke points&rdquo; China now holds over industrialised economies, and what sustained engagement in the Pacific, including by Australia, must look like to be effective. They also assess the military situation around Taiwan and the second-order implications of the ongoing conflict with Iran.
Randy Schriver served as Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs in the first Trump administration. Mike Kuiken is a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at Stanford University&rsquo;s Hoover Institution and a former senior adviser to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
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Globalisation always wins: Parag Khanna on the emerging world order, Iran, and Asia's multipolar future

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