How are our political, economic, and business dynamics likely to shift in 2022? In a region that is becoming increasingly fragmented and volatile, what can we expect from this year’s major events?

From flare ups in geopolitical tensions to increased economic fragility, pandemic uncertainty, democratic backsliding, shifting trade dynamics, and trepidations around climate change, our region and its governing bodies are undergoing rapid changes.

In the face of these multilayered disruptions, Asia Society Australia’s mission has never been more relevant: to prepare Australians for deeper and sustainable engagement with a more complex Asia.

To kick off the year, join Richard Maude, Executive Director of Policy at Asia Society Australia and a Senior Fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute, Jennifer Hewett, National Affairs columnist for the Australian Financial Review, and Ben Hillman, Associate Professor and Director, Australian Centre on China in the World, Australia National University, as they share what is on their radar for 2022.

Date: Thursday 24 February 2022
Time: 10 - 11 a.m. AEDT
Venue: Zoom Webinar

Please note this event will run as a webcast only. Registration is essential. For any enquiries, please contact [email protected]

This event is presented in partnership with ANU College of Asia & the Pacific.

About our Speakers

Jennifer Hewett, National Affairs columnist, Australian Financial Review

Jennifer Hewett is the National Affairs Columnist for The Australian Financial Review, specialising in coverage of business and politics and writing a daily column.

She has been a journalist for more than three decades and a correspondent in Canberra, New York and Washington.  She regularly appears on radio and tv. Originally from Western Australia, she now divides her time between Sydney and Melbourne.

Ben Hillman, Associate Professor, Director, Australian Centre on China in the World, Australia National University

Ben Hillman is Associate Professor at the Crawford School of Public Policy and Director of the Australian Centre on China in the World (CIW). Ben specialises in political development and politics and public policy in China. His research examines policies and mechanisms for promoting political inclusion and safeguarding minority rights. Ben is the author or editor of six books on China, including Patronage and Power (Stanford University Press, 2014), and Conflict and Protest in Tibet and Xinjiang (Columbia University Press, 2016). Ben is Editor of The China Journal — the world’s number one-ranked journal in China Studies and is currently editing a new book on the Communist Party of China.

Richard Maude, Executive Director of Policy at Asia Society Australia, Senior Fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute

Richard Maude is Executive Director of Policy at Asia Society Australia and a Senior Fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute.

He is a former senior Australian government official with 30 years’ experience in foreign policy and national security.

From 2018 to 2019, Mr Maude was Deputy Secretary, Indo-Pacific Group, in the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Australia’s senior official to the East Asia Summit.

In 2017, Mr Maude was head of the whole-of-government taskforce which supported the preparation of the Australian Government’s 2017 Foreign Policy White Paper.

Mr Maude was Director-General of the Office of National Assessments from May 2013 until November 2016.  Before taking up this position, Mr Maude was the senior adviser on foreign policy and national security issues to Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

He has served overseas in Malaysia, where he was Deputy High Commissioner, Singapore and as the Liaison Officer for the Office of National Assessments in the Australian Embassy in Washington DC.

Mr Maude is a member of the Futures Council of the National Security College at the Australian National University.

Executive Briefings are a curated series of meetings presented by diplomats, business leaders and subject matter experts from Asia and Australia. Designed to offer a deep dive into the critical issues of the day, to an audience of senior executives from the business, political, educational and cultural institutions that make up the Asia Society network.

Asia Society Australia acknowledges the support of the Victorian Government.