Does Australia understand the leaders of our region? This paper presents the results of a major empirical study of nearly 100 senior leaders in Timor-Leste and Samoa, from the President and Prime Minister down. There is good reason to believe that leaders matter, and that they are particularly important in developing countries. This study yielded...

The risks and background of possible terrorism at the October 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi are examined in this Lowy Institute Perspective. Even before they begin, the 3-14 October 2010 Commonwealth Games look set to be something of a humiliation for India in the realm of soft power: the ability of a nation to...

This paper explores the strategic challenges confronting Australia as shifting power balances in Asia produce new calculations among the region's major powers. Building on Power and Choice, the Lowy Institute's major report on Asian Security Futures, Raoul Heinrichs argues that while US primacy or a 'concert of Asia' are the most preferable futures for Australia...

The topics covered in this report range from a critical review of each government’s public diplomacy programs and its aims and objectives for international broadcasting, to developments in the international broadcasting arena – the major evolutions and trends witnessed over the last decades.

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...