In the past few months Darren has been teaching his elective undergraduate course, Power and Influence in World Politics (POLS2136) at ANU. This year, he has grappled with the impact of Donald Trump’s re-election, and what it signifies for how power will be accumulated and wielded in the future. Remember, Trump’s core critique of the Biden Administration was weakness – so presumably Trump plans to show us strength. Does that mean America can be more ‘powerful’, or will the result actually be the opposite? And Australia’s deals with PNG and Nauru this month illustrate how far Australia has come in exercising power and influence in recent years.

Hervé Lemahieu and Susannah Patton of the Lowy Institute in Sydney join Darren for a conversation about power. Hervé is Lowy’s Director of Research and Susannah the Director of the Southeast Asia Program and Project Lead for Lowy’s Asia Power Index, which Hervé first developed in 2018. Who better to have a conversation with about power, what it is, how we measure it, and how the forces that have given us Trump, or perhaps Trump himself, might require is to reassess how we conceive of power in world politics into the future.

Australia in the World is written, hosted, and produced by Darren Lim, with research and editing this episode by Walter Colnaghi and theme music composed by Rory Stenning.

Relevant links

Hervé Lemahieu (bio): https://www.lowyinstitute.org/herve-lemahieu

Susannah Patton (bio): https://www.lowyinstitute.org/susannah-patton

Lowy Institute Asia Power Index, 2024 Edition: https://power.lowyinstitute.org/

Susannah Patton and Hervé Lemahieu, “Asia has no hegemon: But U.S.-Chinese Bipolarity Is Good for America and the Region”, Foreign Affairs, 13 September: https://www.lowyinstitute.org/publications/asia-has-no-hegemon-us-chinese-bipolarity-good-america-region

Mitch McConnell, “The Price of American Retreat: Why Washington Must Reject Isolationism and Embrace Primacy”, Foreign Affairs, Jan/Feb 2025: https://www.foreignaffairs.com/united-states/price-american-retreat-trump-mitch-mcconnell

Join or die (Netflix documentary): https://www.netflix.com/au/title/81746809

Wicked (2024 Film): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicked_(2024_film)