Publications

Heating up the planet: climate change and security

Professor Alan Dupont , Dr Graeme Pearman AM

Summary

In a pathbreaking collaborative work entitled 'Heating up the Planet: Climate Change and Security', Dr Alan Dupont of the Lowy Institute and Dr Graeme Pearman, the former chief of atmospheric research at the CSIRO, canvass the international security consequences of climate change especially for Australia's Asia-Pacific neighbourhood. The Lowy Paper examines the implications of temperature increases and sea level rise for food, water, energy, infectious diseases, natural disasters and environmental refugees and asks whether scientists may have underestimated climate change risks. The paper also looks at several low probability, but high impact climate events which might push the planet past an environmental tipping point from which there will be no winners.

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Aid and development linkage
An increasingly assertive Brazil is a growing provider of aid,...Read more

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The 2010 Lowy Institute Poll

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 Australia’s foreign policy.

The Poll also repeated questions asked in previous years, revealing trends in public opinion on topics such as climate change, Australia’s military involvement in Afghanistan, and attitudes towards the United States and China.

A panel discussion about the poll can be heard here:
The 2010 Lowy Institute Poll - MP3 (23MB)Download item (1.3MB)

Power and choice: Asian security futures

Recent events in the seas off South Korea and Japan emphasise the fragility of Asia’s security order and the strains the region’s changing power distribution are placing on it. A new major Lowy Institute Asia Security Project report, 'Power and Choice: Asian Security Futures', analyses the likely security futures for Asia and Australia and recommends steps countries should take to ensure growing regional competition does not lead to conflict. This report was made possible by the generous support for the Project by the MacArthur Foundation.

A copy of the report, launched by Dennis Richardson, AO, the Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade on 1 June, can be downloaded here.Download item (6.5MB)