Foreign Exchange

Schwartz Media

Every fortnight, Sam Roggeveen and Hugh White discuss major developments in international affairs affecting Australia and the region, from an Australian perspective.

  1. 17 Jul

    AUSTRALIA: China’s ballistic missile test has strikingly little to do with us

    Every fortnight, Sam Roggeveen and Hugh White discuss major developments in international affairs affecting Australia and the region, from an Australian perspective. “I don't think we should also underestimate our capacity to overplay our hands here.  “There is a bit of a bullying tone to some of this stuff. I mean —leaving aside the fact that article two of the Ocean of Peace treaty declares our shared values, including the party's commitment to free and democratic institutions — that’s a bit rich when you’re signing the treaty with Sitiveni Rabuka— you know, leader of two coups. “But also there's language about about not permitting, and this is not just in the in the Fiji agreement, but in all of the agreements in different ways, language about not allowing other countries to establish bases and so on. “You know, and it's a bit asymmetrical. In the Vanuatu treaty, for example, it says is not allowed to have foreign bases, but we are. “The sort of cuteness of some of this. I think we need to be very careful that we don't overplay our hand.”

  2. 19 Jun

    The leapfrog to lithium-ion submarines: "If anyone can do this, it’s the Chinese"

    Every fortnight, Sam Roggeveen and Hugh White discuss major developments in international affairs affecting Australia and the region, from an Australian perspective. “You have to be very clear where the capability trends are going.  “Intentions can change quickly, but it's worth making the point that the broader geostrategic framework within which intentions evolve can change more slowly.  “When we made the foundation of Australian defense policy throughout the 70s, 80s and 90s, even into the 2000, it was that: we didn't have to care much about China's military capabilities because we could not conceive that it would have an intention to use force against us. “Now, what's the big thing that's changed on the intention side is that in the decades ahead, we're expecting China to be much less constrained by American power and therefore to have opportunities, if it chooses, to use force against Australia free of interference from the United States. Which it wouldn't have had, which we didn't conceive it having decades ago.” “There’s an element of intention that changes slowly, too.

  3. 5 Jun

    The many ways in which Secretary of War Pete Hegseth is not Teddy Roosevelt

    Every fortnight, Sam Roggeveen and Hugh White discuss major developments in international affairs affecting Australia and the region, from an Australian perspective.“The life type extension of the Collins—keeping as many Collins as possible in service and operationally viable for as long as possible—is really critical to the whole AUKUS[...]for two reasons.”“The first is because we won't have a submarine capability otherwise“But the second is we won't have enough submarines at sea to provide the training opportunities for enough submariners to ensure that we actually have the personnel required to sustain a viable submarine capability when the US boats arrive.“And I've long been of the view that the first hurdle at which we're likely to fall in getting to where the AUKUS plan was meant to take us was that we wouldn't succeed in upgrading, prolonging the life of the Collins sufficiently to keep enough submarines in water, to keep enough trainees going to sea, to give ourselves the personnel required to operate the AUKUS boats when they arrive. And that’s become more likely”

  4. 26 May

    AUSTRALIA: The paradox of our wartime relationship with America

    Every fortnight, Sam Roggeveen and Hugh White discuss major developments in international affairs affecting Australia and the region, from an Australian perspective.“This has been by far the biggest ballistic missile we've ever seen. I don't think we've ever seen anything like this number of ballistic missiles used in anger…”“Now, part of the story of the war so far is that a very high proportion of the Iranian missiles have been shot down… it demonstrates the importance of more sophisticated ballistic missiles that can evade defenses and which is really what the Hypersonics story is about.“But I bet you'll find one of the things that's happening to the Chinese is studying what's been happening, to maximize their chance of getting their ballistic missiles under the targets and avoid the defenses.”

  5. 25 May

    CHINA: Is Trump’s Iran war about a different theatre?

    “I want to bring this home to our part of the world, our region. And your point about this being essentially performative tends to cut against one theory that's become popular among a certain element of the commentariat, which is that this is all about China.“That at the base of all this and the Venezuela operation, as well, and American statecraft, if we can call it that, under Donald Trump, is somehow all explainable by a long term competition with China and that the United States is involved in this very far sighted strategy of trying to isolate China and to deny it allies.“I'd like to say that's rubbish.”

  6. 25 May

    Trumps Iranian cul-de-sac: 'not so much strategic as political'

    Every fortnight, Sam Roggeveen and Hugh White discuss major developments in international affairs affecting Australia and the region, from an Australian perspective.“I want to quote from the speech itself…“The speech begins with a familiar critique. Anti-free trade, anti-mass migration…anti-welfare state, a critique of deindustrialisation in the West. And then Rubio says:“‘ Four, five centuries before the end of the Second World War, the West had been expanding its missionaries, its pilgrims, its soldiers, its explorers pouring out from its shores to cross oceans, settle new continents, build vast empires extending out across the globe.“‘But in 1945, for the first time since the age of Columbus, it was contracting. The Great Western empires had entered into terminal decline. Against that backdrop, then, as now, many came to believe that the West's age of dominance had come to an end and that our future was destined to be a saint and feeble echo of our past.“‘But together, our predecessors recognized that decline was a choice, and it was a choice they refused to make. This is what we did together once before. And this is what President Trump and the United States want to do again now, together with you.”

  7. 25 May

    Sixth generation aircrafts and China's "immense" asymmetrical advantage

    “We have seen in the development of the PLA over the last few decades, as fast an evolution of a military as the world has ever seen.” “You’d have to compare it with what Japan achieved after the Meiji Restoration or what the United States achieved in the late 19th and early 20th century, to have any sort of comparison.”“Certainly bigger than the navy that the Soviets built during the Cold War period.”Every fortnight, Sam Roggeveen and Hugh White discuss major developments in international affairs affecting Australia and the region, from an Australian perspective.Compelling conversation, engaging debate and insightful perspectives. This series provides expert insights into Australia’s future in a changing world.Foreign Exchange. Brought to you by Australian Foreign Affairs.

  8. 25 May

    Responding to Trump: Will Anthony Albanese follow Canada’s lead?

    “We all suffer from availability bias. What's the thing that's moving the world? Well, what's the thing that I can recall quickest now? “Well, it's Trump. Because he's always there. He's always there. But there are bigger forces at play.“So, on Venezuela, for instance, Trump did this very singular thing. But on the other hand, the United States has been intervening in central and south America for generations. That's what the Monroe Doctrine is. It's a 19th century idea. And over the course of, let's say, since the Second World War, there's been Chile, Nicaragua, Haiti, Panama, Grenada, Cuba…”Every fortnight, Sam Roggeveen and Hugh White discuss major developments in international affairs affecting Australia and the region, from an Australian perspective.Compelling conversation, engaging debate and insightful perspectives. This series provides expert insights into Australia’s future in a changing world.Foreign Exchange. Brought to you by Australian Foreign Affairs.

See All (16)

About

Every fortnight, Sam Roggeveen and Hugh White discuss major developments in international affairs affecting Australia and the region, from an Australian perspective.

Information

  • Creator
    Schwartz Media
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    16
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Schwartz Media
  • Show Website
    Foreign Exchange