On 20 July the Institute was pleased to host an important new foreign policy dialogue, comparing the international environment of the Menzies era with the world today.

In partnership with the University of Melbourne, Asialink, and Queen’s College, the Institute convened a group of Australia’s leading historians and foreign policy minds to take stock of Australia’s strategic position and to consider how the experience of Menzies’ government could inform contemporary policymaking.

Discussions centred around strategic challenges common both to Menzies’ time and our present era, including: great-power ideological rivalry; economic and technological change; alliances and partnerships; and environmental challenges and the management of strategic resources. While there are many things distinct to our period, it was striking and insightful how many challenges and opportunities are shared with Menzies’ time.

Sessions paired historians such as James Curran and David Lowe, with foreign policy experts including Michael Wesley and Allan Gyngell, and were supported by the deep and practical policy insights of former Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and former High Commissioner to London George Brandis.

The Institute was pleased to host voices from all across Australia, including experts from the University of Sydney, the Perth US Asia Institute, the Australian National University, the University of Newcastle, the Australian Industry Group, the Lowy Institute, the Seapower Centre, the Australia Institute, the US Studies Centre, and the Australian Institute of International Affairs.

The dialogue will inform the creation of an occasional paper on Australia’s foreign policy challenges to be authored by RMI Visiting Fellow Dr. William Stoltz. We look forward to sharing the paper with you.

We hope to build on the success of this important and timely dialogue in years to come.