Home Podcasts Asia Rising
Asia Rising

Asia Rising

La Trobe Asia 384 Episodes Jul 21, 2026

Asia Rising is a podcast by La Trobe Asia that critically examines key issues facing Asia's states and societies. It features in-depth discussions and analysis on political, economic, and social developments across the region. The show aims to provide a nuanced understanding of Asia's complex dynamics.

Episodes

Event: The Real Costs of AUKUS
Event: The Real Costs of AUKUS Jul 21, 2026 3641 The AUKUS agreement between Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom is set to reshape Australia's military and strategic future through the acquisition of nuclear-powered submarines. But the implications of AUKUS extend far beyond defence, with significant consequences for Australia's economy, diplomacy, industry, and foreign relations. As the project moves from ambition to impleme
Interview: US Engagement With Pacific Island Nations
Interview: US Engagement With Pacific Island Nations Jul 6, 2026 1212 The United States has, over recent years, significantly deepened its engagement with Pacific Island nations — reopening embassies, renewing funding compacts, and positioning itself as a committed partner in a region of growing strategic importance. Since the return of the Trump administration in January 2025, questions have been raised about the continuity of that commitment, and what a changed
Interview: The Continued Repression of Uyghurs
Interview: The Continued Repression of Uyghurs Jun 12, 2026 1159 An escalating crisis faces the Uyghur in China. The newly enacted Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress legalises forced assimilation, erases linguistic rights, and expands state surveillance. It provides a permanent legal framework for the ongoing campaign of mass re-education camps, long-term imprisonment, and cultural erasure of China's minorities. Guest: Yalkun Uluyol (China Researcher,
Interview: Pragmatic China and Multilateral Organisations
Interview: Pragmatic China and Multilateral Organisations May 30, 2026 1559 Over the past decade, China has launched a remarkable number of multilateral initiatives — from the Belt and Road to BRICS to a suite of so-called Global Initiatives covering development, security, and civilisation. Western analysts have tended to read these as evidence of a Chinese project to displace the existing international order. Guest: Dr Joel Ng (Senior Fellow and Head of the Centre for
Event: Navigating Conflict in a Contested World
Event: Navigating Conflict in a Contested World May 12, 2026 3649 In an increasingly contested global environment, the international community faces growing pressure to respond to current and emerging wars and instability across the full conflict spectrum: from prevention, to managing active conflict, to post-conflict reconstruction. Effective conflict prevention requires states to draw on a broad toolkit of policy levers, including security and defence initiat
Event: When Engineers Shape Asia
Event: When Engineers Shape Asia May 5, 2026 3442 Over the past two decades, China and India have undergone one of the most dramatic expansions of engineering education in human history. In 2020 alone, India awarded 1.5 million science and engineering degrees, and China awarded 2 million. In China, engineering now makes up a third of all university degrees, and this rate far outpaces the United States. China and India are producing engineers at
Interview: Preserving Tibetan Culture and Knowledge
Interview: Preserving Tibetan Culture and Knowledge May 1, 2026 1194 Tibet's story is one of the most profound of the modern era — a civilisation forced into exile, carrying its language, philosophy, and sacred texts across the Himalayas in an act of collective survival. Preserving that heritage, while also engaging the modern world, has become one of the defining challenges for Tibetans in diaspora. Few people embody that challenge more personally than Geshe Lhak
Interview: Ethnic Unity and Assimilation in China
Interview: Ethnic Unity and Assimilation in China Apr 2, 2026 1277 China's new Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress mandates Mandarin as the language of education, encourages the breakup of minority-majority neighbourhoods, and criminalises expressions of ethnic separatism — including by Chinese citizens living abroad. Critics say it formalises a decades-long push toward assimilation that has already reshaped the lives of Uyghur, Tibetan, Mongolian and othe
Book Launch: The Dragon's Emerging Order: Sino-centric Multilateralism and Global Responses
Book Launch: The Dragon's Emerging Order: Sino-centric Multilateralism and Global Responses Mar 30, 2026 3544 China’s rise is often framed as a challenge to the Western-led international order, with attention focused on how Beijing works within — and pushes back against — liberal institutions. Yet a more consequential shift is underway. China is increasingly shaping global politics through new, Sino-centric forms of multilateralism, building parallel forums that operate alongside, and sometimes beyond, ex
Event: Healthy Ageing in Asia-Pacific
Event: Healthy Ageing in Asia-Pacific Mar 25, 2026 2904 Across the Asia-Pacific, people are living longer than ever before. From rapidly ageing societies in Northeast Asia to younger but fast-transitioning populations in South and Southeast Asia, countries across the region are confronting the social and economic implications of longer lives. These shifts are generating diverse challenges — and innovative responses — as governments, communities and f
Interview: How the Media Shapes Territory in Asia
Interview: How the Media Shapes Territory in Asia Mar 19, 2026 1231 Traditional security debates focus on maps, borders, naval deployments, and treaties. But increasingly, territory in Asia is also constructed through narratives, media coverage, digital platforms, and public emotion. Journalists are not just observers — they help shape how territory, sovereignty, and security are understood by the public and policymakers. Guest: Dr Lupita Wijaya (Research Fell
Book Launch: Asian Crucible: Globalization, Geopolitics and the Contest for the Future
Book Launch: Asian Crucible: Globalization, Geopolitics and the Contest for the Future Mar 12, 2026 3538 Asia’s modern resurgence has transformed the global economy, lifting hundreds of millions out of poverty through globalization, supply chains and market integration. Yet this success has also generated new geopolitical rivalries and nationalist tensions, placing the region at a critical crossroads between continued prosperity and growing risk. What powered Asia’s economic transformation — and are

Recommended