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On 8 November, the Lowy Institute for International Policy co-hosted the Fiji and Vanuatu Update 2010 with the Crawford School of Economics and Governance, Australian National University. As part of the 2010 Update a distinguished panel was assembled to discuss these very challenges and to discuss Fiji’s international relations, politics and governance, in relation to Australia.

The 2010 Lowy Institute Poll, 'Australia and the world: public opinion and foreign policy', was launched on 31 May by Lowy Institute Executive Director Michael Wesley, followed by an interactive discussion with panelists Stephen Loosley, Miranda Devine and Arthur Sinodinos.

On 13 September as part of our Distinguished Speaker Series, Mr Haruhiko Kuroda, the President of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Chairperson of the ADB's Board of Directors, presented a lecture to the Lowy Institute. Headquartered in Manila, the ADB is the regional multilateral financial institution tasked with reducing poverty in the Asia Pacific region. The title of Mr Kuroda's lecture was 'Economic prospects, challenges, and regional cooperation in Asia and the Pacific'. He discussed the economic success of developing Asia and outline the ADB's views on regional cooperation and integration.

This week’s regular Lowy Lunch, which took place on Tuesday 24 April, was presented by Lieutenant Colonel Mark O'Neill, the Army Fellow at the Lowy Institute for International Policy.On ANZAC Day Australians reflect upon the sacrifices made by the men and women in the service of our nation during war. The ANZAC legend was created during the First World War and subsequently reinforced during the Second World War. This has created an enduring public perception that the nature of our wars is predominately 'state on state' or 'conventional'. This paradigmatic perception has shaped public policy thinking on defence and security issues. Mark O'Neill argued that this perception is erroneous. He suggested that our participation in conventional wars is the exception rather than the norm.

On 23 April at the Wednesday Lunch at Lowy, former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, James A. Kelly, discussed how American policy towards Asia has changed on recent years.

At the Wednesday Lunch at Lowy on 13th February, Dr Malcolm Cook discussed the results of recent elections in South Korea and Taiwan. Malcolm analysed whether South Korean and Taiwan voters are trying to return to the past and what this might mean for Northeast Asia's two most dangerous flashpoints, the Korean peninsula and the Taiwan strait, and Australia's vital interest in Northeast Asian stability.

At the Wednesday Lunch at Lowy on 28 November, Professor Michael Wesley, in a presentation entitled 'Planning Australia's future in Asia', examined the major challenges and great opportunities that make it essential that Australia takes seriously the task of foreign policy planning in its regional diplomacy. Professor Michael Wesley is the Director of the Griffith Asia Institute at Griffith University.

On 29 May, in a lecture in our Distinguished Speaker Series, Dr Michael Green from the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington discussed America's position in Asia and the challenges for the next Administration. The presentation first looked at what the Bush administration's Asia policy is and what the approaching debates are in Washington, and beyond, over this policy, in the run-up to the US elections. Also, the presentation looked at the role of the US-Australia alliance in the present policy and what changes to this policy may mean for the alliance.

The third Lowy Lecture on 'Australia in the World' was given in Sydney on 19 November by Lord May of Oxford. It deals with one of the most urgent problems we face - the consequence for the international system of the range of environmental challenges facing the planet. Informed by his deep scientific and public policy experience, Lord May's lecture, entitled 'Relations among Nations on a Finite Planet', warns us of the changes that are needed in the way world politics operate as we enter this 'post-Metternich' age. Lord May is one of the most distinguished scientists Australia has produced. His Lowy Lecture is a major contribution to the Institute's mission of informing and deepening the global debate about international policy.

On 18 October at a special Wednesday Lunch at Lowy, three Lowy Institute scholars spoke on the rise of China. Mark Thirlwell, Program Director, International Economy and author of a recent Perspective entitled 'Shaking the world?' talked about China and the world economy. Dr Malcolm Cook, Program Director, Asia and the Pacific and author of 'Regional Australia's China boom' spoke on China's Asia strategy. Dr Michael Fullilove, the Program Director, Global Issues, spoke on China and the United Nations, which is also the subject of an article he has published in the current edition of The National Interest.

On 11 October 2006 at the Wednesday Lunch at Lowy, the Institute launched a Lowy Institute Paper entitled Pitfalls of Papua: Understanding the Conflict and its Place in Australia-Indonesia Relations. The author is Dr Rodd McGibbon, one of Australia's best young Indonesia analysts with a background in government, development aid and academia. The new Lowy Institute Paper boldly addresses these problems by carefully analysing the history of the Papuan conflict in Australia-Indonesia relations and the arguments of those in Australia advocating support for West Papuan self-determination. The paper calls on the government to actively engage in the public discussion of the Papua conflict and to focus more attention on the large strategic pay-offs of good relations with a stable and democratic Indonesia.

At the Wednesday Lunch on 12 September, Dr Douglas Ramage led the discussion on the progress of Indonesia's political reforms triggered by the collapse of Suharto’s New Order. In the last decade, Indonesian politics have been fundamentally transformed as the world's fourth most populous country has shifted from a one-party, centralised political order to a multi-party democracy with a very significant transfer of funds and power to local governments. He discussed how the political system is changing and what this means for government accountability and social and economic development. Dr Douglas Ramage is the Asia Foundation's country representative in Indonesia where he directs the Foundation's governance, democracy, economic, and business policy reform programs.

At the Wednesday Lunch at Lowy on 1 August Dr Peter McCawley led the discussion on why Indonesia has largely fallen off the international radar screen in recent years. Despite being the largest country in Southeast Asia, Indonesia receives comparatively little international media coverage beyond stories linked with terrorism and Indonesia is often left out of discussion of East Asia's major countries. Australia's robust public debate about Indonesia and Jakarta-Canberra relations is very much the exception and not the rule. Dr Peter McCawley is the former Dean of the Asian Development Bank Institute and the former head of the Australian National University's Indonesia Project. He has worked on Indonesia and international development issues for close to four decades.

On 6 February at the Wednesday Lunch at Lowy, John Garnaut, the Beijing-based Asia Economics Correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age newspapers, discussed how the question of how to divide profits from the conversion of rural land is one of the most contentious in China. Beijing is stepping up its pro-peasant, pro-equity rhetoric and yet China's enormous rural-urban wealth gap is getting wider and land disputes appear to be getting worse. John's presentation was entitled 'Peasant land disputes, viewed through the bars of a small town police station.'

US President Barack Obama has called himself ‘America’s first Pacific president’. On Monday the Lowy Institute and the United States Studies Centre endeavoured to flesh out this concept. How should we rate his presidency and, in particular, his policies towards the Pacific region? What looming challenges does he face in Asia and the Pacific?Dr Michael Wesley chaired a discussion with three experts: Dr Michael Fullilove, Program Director, Global Issues; Mary Kissel, Editorial Page Editor, The Wall Street Journal Asia; and Dr Geoffrey Garrett, Chief Executive Officer, United States Studies Centre, University of Sydney.