Source — AITW Ep015 — Towards Reinvigorating Australian Foreign Policy Studies (Live @ ANU)¶

Episode Metadata¶

Field	Value
Episode number	15
Title	Towards reinvigorating Australian foreign policy studies (LIVE @ ANU)
Publication date	2019-03-18
Format	Live panel recording; Allan as moderator
Allan present	Yes (as moderator)
Darren present	No (introduces recording; was not at the event)
Guests	Valerie Hudson (Texas A&M, FPA scholar), Jacqui True (Monash, IR/gender), Mark Kenny (ANU, former Fairfax journalist), Michael Wesley (ANU, College of Asia and the Pacific Dean)

Summary¶

A special live edition recorded at the ANU as part of a forum on reinvigorating Australian foreign policy studies. Darren was absent; Allan moderated the panel. The episode is unusual in format and rich in biographical material: Allan introduces himself formally, reveals his ANU honorary professorship, declares his lifelong commitment to foreign policy from the age of 16, and describes himself as "an aging practitioner." He delivers one of the episode's sharpest observations: "The 90s are no longer available to us."

This is the first episode in which Allan is host rather than co-host. His moderating role reveals skills not always visible in the two-host format: he introduces others generously, draws out debate, and places pointed questions at strategic moments.

Key Quotations and Biographical Material¶

Self-introduction: honorary Professor; "aging practitioner"¶

"I'm Allan Gyngell, I'm National President of the Australian Institute of International Affairs and an honorary Professor here at the ANU's College of Asia in the Pacific and as Michael said I'm also co-presenter with Darren Lim — academic and I, who are an aging practitioner, discuss the current issues of Australia and its engagement with the outside world."

— [00:00:00.000 --> 00:11:40.400]

Three pieces of information in one sentence: AIIA National President (confirmed from Ep001); honorary Professor at ANU's College of Asia and the Pacific (confirmed here for the first time); self-description as "aging practitioner" (characteristic self-deprecation, but also a serious statement about his identity — practitioner, not scholar).

"From the age of 16"¶

"As someone who from the age of 16 I think has never been able to think of anything more interesting or more professionally interesting anyway than Australian foreign policy, it always astonishes me that there are not other people, lots of other people around who share my own view."

— [00:00:00.000 --> 00:11:40.400]

A rare autobiographical statement about origins. The interest in foreign policy is not something that developed in a career; it was present from adolescence. The "I think" suggests he is reaching back to a genuine memory. The astonishment that others don't share his passion is not rhetorical — it reflects a genuine puzzlement that has characterised his mission throughout the series.

"The time for foreign policy has come again"¶

"Through the 1990s we went through a period where geo-economics was the sort of dominating thread of discussion around the world, then we had the national security decade at the beginning of the 21st century... but now I think the world we are in is one where the traditional focus of foreign policy on reciprocity, on negotiation, on dealing with others in complex ways will come into its own."

— [00:00:00.000 --> 00:11:40.400]

A periodisation of the recent history of foreign policy: (1) 90s geo-economics; (2) national security decade; (3) now, the return of traditional foreign policy as a discipline. Allan positions this forum as arriving at exactly the right moment.

"These are indeed fluid and uncertain times unlike any that we've seen before"¶

"Every Australian Government since the Second World War has at some point or another put out a paper or a speech or a policy document saying that Australia has never encountered more fluid and uncertain times... I have come to the reluctant conclusion that these are indeed fluid and uncertain times unlike any that we've seen before."

— [00:00:00.000 --> 00:11:40.400]

He anticipates the cliché — every government makes this claim — and then endorses it anyway, with the qualifier "reluctant conclusion." This is vintage Gyngell: acknowledge the rhetorical trap, then explain why this time is different.

"The 90s are no longer available to us"¶

"There's a lot of sort of 90s nostalgia around at the moment. Now, I was there in the 90s. I like the 90s. But the 90s are no longer available to us. It was possible for Australia to do things at that time — the Cambodian peace process, the formation of APEC — possible for a country like us to take those steps. Now, I personally believe that Australian foreign policy could be more creative and active than it is. But—"

— [01:01:02.530 --> 01:02:03.670]

This is a pivotal formulation. Allan does not join the nostalgia; he claims the 90s as a real achievement ("I was there") while insisting that the conditions of the 90s are historically specific and non-recoverable. The items he cites — the Cambodian peace process and APEC formation — are achievements from the Keating era, which he has already confirmed he was part of. "I personally believe that Australian foreign policy could be more creative and active than it is" is his sustained conviction, repeated across the series, but the syntax here — "I personally believe... But—" — suggests the unspoken completion: but the structural constraints are real.

On foreign policy in public life¶

"When you see those lists of issues that voters care about, foreign policy is an awful long way down the list."

— [00:29:16.730 --> 00:29:27.210]

Flat acknowledgment of the political reality. No resentment; just registration. The AIIA's entire mission is to address this gap.

The bipartisanship of Australian foreign policy (and its consequences)¶

Allan notes — without elaborating — an observation made during the day's forum: that the bipartisanship of Australian foreign policy may be what enabled Julie Bishop to reach senior positions. This is reported indirectly, not quoted as Allan's own view, but he introduces it positively.

Allan as Moderator: Observations¶

Introduces each panellist with warmth and precision, drawing attention to their specific expertise.
Asks pointed questions: "Do Australians care about foreign policy?" (directed at Mark Kenny); "Can foreign policy analysis tell us whether Donald Trump is a harbinger of things to come or an outlier?" (directed at Valerie Hudson).
Intervenes with wit: "Both those things can be right. That's why politicians use that exact phrase. 'We have no closer friend' doesn't mean you are our closest friend." (Correcting Mark Kenny's complaint about diplomatic boilerplate.)
Calls on specific audience members by name, steering the discussion.
The moderating style mirrors his analytical style: precise, inclusive, willing to deflate but not to dominate.

Biographical Fragments¶

Evidence type: Confirmed - Honorary Professor at ANU's College of Asia and the Pacific (first confirmed in this episode). - Interest in Australian foreign policy "from the age of 16" — earliest self-reported origin of his career commitment. - Co-authored a book with Michael Wesley ("Making Australian Foreign Policy") at some point — mentioned in passing: "Michael and I I think went through these in a book we wrote some years ago on making Australian foreign policy." - The Cambodian peace process and APEC formation are cited as 90s achievements he was part of ("I was there").

Evidence type: Inferred / Likely - Given his confirmation of working in Keating's office (Ep014) and the 90s APEC/Cambodia references here, it is likely Allan was working in or close to the Keating government during these initiatives.

Style and Method Evidence¶

"Aging practitioner": the self-label matters. He is not an academic, not a journalist, not a commentator. He is a practitioner who has aged — five decades of it. The phrase signals humility but also authority: only practitioners know what practice feels like.
"From the age of 16": the most direct statement in the series about why he does this. Not careerism; not accident; lifelong calling.
"I like the 90s but the 90s are no longer available to us": characteristic move — acknowledge what was good, refuse to pretend it can be restored, restate what remains possible. This is his counter to nostalgia throughout the series.
Wit in moderation: the intervention on "no closer friend" shows Allan operating in a collegial setting where he can be more playful. The quip is exact: he identifies the logical structure of the formula and shows it is not dishonest.

Notable Absence¶

This episode has no "Reading, Listening and Watching" segment. It is a panel recording; the normal episode structure does not apply.

Open Questions¶

What was the specific nature of Allan's honorary professorship at ANU — when was it awarded, and what did it involve?
What exactly was his contribution to the Cambodian peace process and APEC formation during the Keating era?
The book "Making Australian Foreign Policy" with Michael Wesley — what were its arguments and when was it published?