South Korea faces a number of security challenges, living in the shadow of states such as China and Russia, and with its capital Seoul around 50km from the border it shares with North Korea. In times of contestation and with a new government in place it has the chance to reexamine its priorities and contribution to security in the Asia Pacific. Guest: Dongkeun Lee (Policy Fellow, Asia-Pacific Leadership Network) Recorded on 27th April, 2025.

The Australian government has released a new roadmap aiming to bolster critical minerals co-operation between Australia and India. Crucial to the economy and productivity, the mineral trade, the plan aims to drive research and trade in both countries, but can the plan also address resource security and climate concerns? Guests: Ambika Vishwanath (DFAT Maitri Principal Research Fellow, La Trobe Asia) Titiksha Vashist (Co-founder and Lead Researcher, Pranava Institute) Recorded 16th April, 2025

High in the Himalayas the waters of Asia’s eight largest rivers intersect. The rivers of the Asian Highlands are central to the world’s weather systems and activities in their water catchments have shaped the human past and will shape the future. These rivers support more than three billion people and provide water for 85% of Asia’s populations, and what happens to Asian highland rivers is of global significance. Today human activities are contributing to rising temperatures, which leads to glacial shrinkage and uncertain river flows. Highland rivers are suffering from multiple crises, including inept management, negative effects from poorly planned damming, and declining fish stocks, along with decreased biodiversity. This event explores the rivers of this critically important region and the iconological crisis that they face. The launch of Rivers of the Asian Highlands From Deep Time to the Climate Crisis by Ruth Gamble, Gillian G. Tan, Hongzhang Xu, Sara Beavis, Petra Maurer, Jamie Pittock, John Powers, Robert J. Wasson, published by Routledge. Speakers: Professor Emily T. Yeh (Geography, University of Colorado Boulder) Dipak Gyawali (Former Minister of Water Resources of Nepal) Dr Ruth Gamble (Deputy Director, La Trobe Asia) Ambika Vishwanath (Principal Research Fellow, La Trobe Asia) (Chair) Recorded on 27th May, 2025.

The Asia-Pacific is an area of great power contestation, of an intense rivalry between major powers, particularly the United States and China. How influence and dominance intersect in the Asia Pacific has major implications for the politics, economies and militaries of the countries in the region. Guest: Mike Bosack (Special Adviser for Government Relations,Yokosuka Council on Asia-Pacific Studies) Recorded 29th April, 2025.

Australia’s federal election has produced a significant majority for PM Anthony Albanese. While most of the campaign was dominated by domestic issues, the shadow cast by the Trump administration’s highly destabilising policies was long. The re-elected government faces the most complex international environment in decades with the ongoing wars in Ukraine and Gaza, an America led by a mercurial President who appears intent on wrecking the liberal international order and an ambitious and confident China. This panel will discuss the most immediate international challenges facing the newly elected government, how it is likely to approach these issues and what new direction a more confident and emboldened Labor government may take. Panel: The Hon Bill Shorten (Leader of the Australian Labor Party (2013 - 2019), Vice-Chancellor of the University of Canberra) Professor Andrea Carson (Political Communication, La Trobe University) Professor Nick Bisley (Dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, La Trobe University) Professor Bec Strating (Director, La Trobe Asia) Recorded 13th May, 2025

The past six months in South Korea have been eventful - a declaration of martial law, the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol, but the country continues and now there is an election on the 3rd June. The election is heated, and there are still protests on the streets of Seoul. How the votes could go, what is on the agenda, and how this will affect the world are all topics of debate. Guest: Dr Duyeon Kim (Adjunct Senior Fellow, Indo-Pacific Security Program, Centre for New American Security) Recorded on 29th February, 2025.

It is two weeks until an Australian federal election in which the presiding Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, will meet the challenger Peter Dutton in a campaign that has been dominated by domestic issues, but overshadowed by Trump. Guests: Professor Bec Strating (Director, La Trobe Asia) Professor Andrea Carson (Journalism, La Trobe University) Recorded on 16th April, 2025.

Late last year the Chinese government announced it had approved the world’s largest and most expensive, hydropower project on the Yarlung Tsangpo River in the Eastern Himalaya, near its disputed border with India. The project would generate around 60 gigawatts annually, nearly three times the capacity of the Three Gorges Dam, and help them meet their energy transition goals. What they actually intend to build and the impact it could have on the surrounding landscape and the people who call it home is the subject of much debate. Guests: Dr Ruth Gamble (Senior Lecturer, Archaeology and History, La Trobe University) Dr Hongzhang Xu (Senior Ecohydrologist, Murray Darling Basin Authority (MDBA)) Recorded on April 1st, 2025.

As President Donald Trump leads his second term, relationships between the US and Asian countries continue to evolve under his administration’s policies. While there has been much focus on Europe’s reactions to a more transactional leadership style in the US, less has been discussed about how it will affect trade negotiations, military alliances, and geopolitical tensions in Asia. The United States, once a reliable ally to many, now represents a wild card, and how Trump views Asian nations including China, North Korea, Japan, and India, will have a measurable impact on trade, security, and diplomacy. Panel: Professor Bec Strating (Director, La Trobe Asia) Professor Nick Bisley (Dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, La Trobe University) Ambika Vishwanath (DFAT Maitri Research Fellow, La Trobe Asia) Assoc. Professor Ruth Gamble (Deputy Director, La Trobe Asia)(Chair)

Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte was arrested on March 11, 2025, by the Philippine National Police and Interpol, acting on a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC). The warrant charges Duterte with crimes against humanity related to his administration’s controversial “war on drugs,” which resulted in thousands of deaths. Guest: Associate Professor Kerstin Steiner (La Trobe Law School, La Trobe University) Recorded on 18 March, 2025.

Australian headlines in late February were dominated by the activities of the Chinese navy’s Task Group 107 as it progressed south along the Australian coast and conducted a series of live-fire exercises. To the media and a segment of politicians this is a big deal, and at the very least it signals a message that China is trying to send to Australia. Guest: Professor Bec Strating (Director, La Trobe Asia) Recorded on 3rd March, 2025.

The global south is struggling with extreme weather patterns and how to respond, with the Philippines being no exception. Since the devastation of the 2013 Haiyan typhoon, more than 15 thousand households have been relocated from the coast to Tacloban North, and this climate gentrfication has caused inequalities amongst the residents. Guests: Associate Professor Brooke Wilmsen (Social Enquiry, La Trobe University) Dr Justin See (Development Studies, University of Melbourne) Recorded on 21st February, 2025.

For years China has claimed historical rights in the South China Sea, enforcing this by establishing the expansive ‘nine-dash line’ encompassing around 90% of the sea and challenging the maritime claims of neighbouring states in Southeast Asia. The Philippines in particular has contested China’s claims, concerned about the implications for national security, sovereignty, sovereign rights, and maritime jurisdiction. What can the Philippines and other nations in do to support the maritime rules-based order? How can bodies like ASEAN and the United Nations assist in these areas? What kind of deterrence and diplomacy might help manage or resolve these disputes? Panel: Professor Amparo Pamela Fabe (National Police College and Philippine Public Safety College) Assoc. Professor Lowell Bautista ( School of Law, Western Sydney University) Dr Bich Tran (Senior Fellow, Verve Research, Adjunct Fellow, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)) Professor Bec Strating (Director, La Trobe Asia) (Chair)

In his first month as the newly sworn in President of the United States Donald Trump signed a raft of executive orders, one of which was the near total freeze of all foreign aid, and the drastic reduction of the United States Agency for International Development. This move will have lasting repurcussions for the welfare of many of the world’s poorest populations, not to mention the international reputation of the United States. Guest: Associate Professor Lisa Denney (Director, Centre for Human Security and Social Change, La Trobe University) Recorded on the 18th February, 2025.

Great power rivalry is now an entrenched feature of Asia’s security environment. While the United States’ role in Asia looks increasingly uncertain under the new Trump administration, China has long sought its security by building dominant relationships with smaller powers in its neighbourhood. While Australia focuses keenly on the activities of the US and China in East Asia and the Pacific, far less is understood about the contests for power playing out in Central Asia and its implications for global stability and order. In this arena, Russia and the United States are keen to challenge China’s presence and maintain access and influence for both themselves and their partners. As global geopolitics evolve, China has come to dominate a region that is crucial to the world’s economic and strategic future. In celebration of the new book ‘Great Game On: The contest for Central Asia and Global Supremacy’ by Geoff Raby. Speakers: Dr Geoff Raby AO (Former Australia Ambassador to China, 2007-2011) Professor Theo Farrell (Vice-Chancellor, La Trobe University) Professor Rebecca Strating (Director, La Trobe Asia) Recorded on 12th February, 2025.

Unrest in South Korea is developing quickly. In December President Yoon Suk-yeol declared a short lived martial law. He has since been impeached, removed from office and arrested after weeks of evading arrest, potentially to face charges of insurrection. The political turmoil has shaken South Korea, where Yoon Suk-yeol has popular support. What were the events that led to this political juncture? What could it mean for South Korea and a potential election? Could the unrest have implications for the wider Asian region? Panel: Associate Professor Danielle Chubb (International Relations, Deakin University) Associate Professor David Hundt (International Relations, Deakin University) Assisstant Professor Jiye Kim (Assistant Professor (International Security, University of Queensland Professor Bec Strating (Director, La Trobe Asia, La Trobe University)(host) Recorded on 29th January 2025.

It’s been four years since the Myanmar government was overthrown in a military coup, with the promise of a swift election never eventuating. Since that time the public sentiment has soured and resistance has grown, and a long civil war is being fought within its borders. Guest: Hunter Marston (PhD candidate, Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs, Australian National University and an Adjunct Research Fellow at La Trobe Asia) Recorded on Friday 24th January, 2025.

Its been more than 70 years since China annexed Tibet, and in that time there has been a noticeable decrease in political representation. There has been an increasing centralisation of power by Han Chinese officials, undercutting Tibetan representation in key political and administrative roles, and it’s a trend that has only accelerated under the leadership of Xi Jinping. Guests: Professor James Leibold (Politics at La Trobe University) Dr Devendra Kumar (Associate Fellow, Centre of Excellence for Himalayan Studies, Shiv Nadar Institution of Eminence) Recorded 27th November, 2024.

Many countries struggle with gender inequality, but in Japan the problem is pronounced. The gender pay gap is at 22%, and women face a number of related issues, including precarious and subordinate positions in the labour market, and the sexual exploitation in the entertainment industry. Voices from the Contemporary Japanese Feminist Movement by Emma Dalton and Caroline Norma (Palgrave Macmillan, 2022) Guest: Dr Caroline Norma (Senior Lecturer, Interpreting and Translating, RMIT) Host: Dr Emma Dalton (Senior Lecturer, Japanese Studies, La Trobe University) Recorded on 11th December, 2024.

Tibet and the Tibetan Plateau are well-known as the home of an important religious and philosophical tradition, Tibetan Buddhism. However, we tend to pay less attention to the lived experiences and llfeways of the Indigenous peoples who live with this singular environment and their achievements and challenges. So how does the state education address Indigenous knowledge and that which the people get from the land itself? Guest: Dr Tashi Dekyid Monet (School of Education and Human Development, University of Virginia) Host: Assoc Professor Ruth Gamble (Deputy Director, La Trobe Asia) Recorded on 30th October, 2024.