2026 Menzies Lecture: Parallel Worlds - Asia in Australia’s Strategic Imaginary
King's Building, Strand Campus, London
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Foundational to Australia’s identity is a never-resolved dilemma about how it should relate to the very different cultures and societies to its north. The cycles of aversion and enthusiasm for engagement it goes through are driven by an underlying inability to reconcile its sense of how the world works with its geographic positioning.
This lecture adapts and explores the concept of an Australian “strategic imaginary” – the collective understandings held by Australians of their country’s influence, significance and vulnerabilities in the world, which ultimately frame what is possible and unthinkable in how Australia relates to the world. It uses this framing to explore the dilemmas and paradoxes Australia faces in engaging with a rapidly-changing Asia.
The lecture will be followed by a drinks reception.
About the speaker
Professor Michael Wesley
Michael Wesley is Deputy Vice Chancellor and Professor of Politics at the University of Melbourne. Before joining the University of Melbourne, he was Dean of the College of Asia and the Pacific at the Australian National University. He has also held positions as the Executive Director of the Lowy Institute for International Policy, Director of the Griffith Asia Institute at Griffith University, and Assistant Director-General for Transnational Issues at the Office of National Assessments. He has a PhD in International Relations from the University of St Andrews and a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) from the University of Queensland.
Recent books include Helpem Fren: Australia and the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands and Mind of the Nation: Universities in Australian Life. He recently published Quarterly Essay 101: Blind Spot: Southeast Asia and Australia’s Future.
About the Annual Menzies Lecture
Hosted by the Australia Studies Institute, the Menzies Lecture is one of the annual highlights of the Australia Studies Institute calendar.
The Menzies Lecture is delivered by a distinguished person, of any nationality, to reflect on a subject of contemporary interest affecting Britain and Australia.
Find out more about the Annual Menzies Lecture
At this event
Professor of Global History
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