Dr Michael Fullilove AM

Executive Director
Dr Michael Fullilove AM
Biography
Publications
News and media

Dr Michael Fullilove AM is the Executive Director of the Lowy Institute.

Over the past two decades, Dr Fullilove has played a leading role in the establishment and development of the Lowy Institute. He wrote the Institute’s feasibility study for Sir Frank Lowy in 2002 and served as the Director of its Global Issues Program from 2003 until his appointment as Executive Director in 2012. He has also worked as a lawyer, a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC, and an adviser to Prime Minister Paul Keating. He is a member of the Advisory Council of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in London.

Dr Fullilove writes widely on Australian foreign policy, US foreign policy and global issues in publications including The New York Times, The Washington Post, Financial Times, The Atlantic, Foreign Policy and Foreign Affairs, as well as the Australian press. He is a sought-after speaker and commentator who is quoted regularly in publications such as The Economist and appears on broadcasters such as the ABC, the BBC and CNN. He graduated in arts and law from the Universities of Sydney and New South Wales, with dual university medals. He also studied as a Rhodes Scholar at the University of Oxford, where he completed a master’s degree and a doctorate in international relations.

Dr Fullilove is the author of a number of books, including Rendezvous with Destiny: How Franklin D. Roosevelt and Five Extraordinary Men Took America into the War and into the World (Penguin), which won the NSW Premier's Literary Award for Non-Fiction. He is the editor of Men and Women of Australia! Our Greatest Modern Speeches (Viking), and the co-editor of Reports from a Turbulent Decade (Viking), an anthology of the Lowy Institute’s best work. In 2015 Dr Fullilove delivered the Boyer Lectures. His lectures were published as A Larger Australia: The ABC 2015 Boyer Lectures (Penguin).

In his capacity as Executive Director and as the host of The Director’s Chair podcast, Dr Fullilove has hosted many world leaders including Joe Biden, Angela Merkel, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Aung San Suu Kyi, Henry Kissinger, Lee Hsien Loong, Boris Johnson, Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr, José Ramos-Horta, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Sanna Marin and Jake Sullivan, as well as nine Australian prime ministers.

In 2019 Dr Fullilove was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for significant service to international relations.

COVIDcast - Episode 1: The global response to the coronavirus
Podcasts
COVIDcast - Episode 1: The global response to the coronavirus
COVIDcast is a Lowy Institute pop-up podcast for anyone interested in understanding the effect of coronavirus on global politics. Each week for the next few weeks, Lowy Institute…
How I Lost My Faith in America
Commentary
How I Lost My Faith in America
The world still wants to believe in the US. But it needs some help. Originally published in The Atlantic. Michael Fullilove
Little to gain from linking Australia’s aid with China in the Pacific
Little to gain from linking Australia’s aid with China in the Pacific
Canberra is the biggest donor in the neighbourhood and has regional goals very different from Beijing.
Favourites of 2019: Richard Holbrooke, “almost great”
Favourites of 2019: Richard Holbrooke, “almost great”
He was the diplomat who in many ways embodied the US with his idealism and his egocentrism.
Now we must set sights on the G7
Commentary
Now we must set sights on the G7
Australia has a strong case to join the top democratic table. The PM should ask Donald Trump for help to do so. Originally published in the Australian Financial Review. Michael…
Boris wins his moment in the sun and may yet surprise us
Boris wins his moment in the sun and may yet surprise us
Unlike Trump, Johnson brings to the top job extensive government experience and a very different worldview.
Morrison must think hard about our Pacific plays
Commentary
Morrison must think hard about our Pacific plays
Originally published in The AustralianMichael Fullilove , Hervé Lemahieu
Nation split on changing relationship between US, China
Commentary
Nation split on changing relationship between US, China
Originally published in The Australian.Michael Fullilove
Superpower scrutiny at Shangri-La
Superpower scrutiny at Shangri-La
The Chinese are finding they are now subject to the Spiderman rule: with great power comes great responsibility.
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