School of International Service, AU

06/06/2026

Former U.S. ambassador and SIS professor Piper Campbell joined Joanne Lin of ISEAS on the Dialogues at Fulcrum podcast to discuss how Southeast Asia is navigating intensifying rivalry between the U.S. and China.

Their conversation with Fulcrum editor William Choong explores why Southeast Asia matters strategically, the contradiction between the region's importance and America's falling influence there, whether Southeast Asians are tilting toward Beijing, and where President Trump's G2 framing of U.S.-China relations may be headed.

Listen now:

Fulcrum editor William Choong talks to Piper Campbell and Joanne Lin about Southeast Asia operating amid rivalry between China and the US. Ambassador Campbell is the Inaugural Chair of the Departme…

06/05/2026

SIS professor and Director of The Center for Environment, Community & Equity Dana Fisher joined The Next Big Idea Daily podcast to discuss her book “Saving Ourselves: From Climate Shocks to Climate Action.”

Self-Improvement Podcast · Updated Daily · What if engaging with great ideas could become one of your daily habits? What if some of the best tips for living better and working smarter were served up with your morning coffee, a hit of motivatio…

06/04/2026

On this latest episode of Big World, SIS alum Zamaan Qureshi, co-founder of the Gen Z–led advocacy coalition Design It for Us, discusses the unique dangers AI chatbots pose to teens, and who is driving the fight for regulation.

“We don't need to make the same mistakes that we made with social media companies, with AI companies. I think Washington in particular has a tendency to kind of get starry-eyed when they look at Silicon Valley and the products that they're producing.”

Listen now, wherever you get your podcasts 🔗 https://bit.ly/42fZio2

06/01/2026

"With the release of Pope Leo XIV’s first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, the Catholic Church has accomplished exactly what U.S. politicians have failed to do: ground the national dialogue on artificial intelligence in broader questions about what it means to be human," SIS professor Benjamin Jensen writes in a recent article for The Center for Strategic & International Studies.

The Vatican’s AI intervention exposes Washington’s blind spot: Policymakers are debating hypothetical doomsday scenarios while missing the real crises already reshaping human dignity, work, truth, and power. Washington must move beyond abstract AGI fears and build a civil society dialogue on hum...

05/31/2026

Is sinking plants in the sea the next big innovation for carbon dioxide removal?

In this new piece published by The Conversation, SIS research professor Wil Burns explains how ocean biomass sinking works, analyzes concerns surrounding this method of carbon removal, and explores other options to store carbon in the ocean.

Read it on our website ⬇️

After the Environmental Protection Agency recently granted a permit to a carbon removal startup for ocean biomass sinking, Professor Wil Burns explains how the process works and analyzes potential concerns about this form of carbon removal.

05/29/2026

𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐏𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫: 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐀𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐂𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐥 𝐒𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐲 𝐀𝐝𝐯𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐜𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐄𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧?

In their new Working Paper, Felipe Hevia and Diego Prado Tuma examine the case of Honduras, looking at the role of CSOs in education systems with limited state capacity.

They spotlight the possibilities of a strategic alliance between between organizations that defend the right to education and organizations that focus on the quality of education.

They argue that a such an alliance would allow for a more comprehensive articulation of demands for quality and equity in education, generating synergies around the strengthening of public education systems.

English: https://bit.ly/3S6BC3j
Spanish: https://bit.ly/4dQpXwO

Thanks to Education Out Loud Global Partnership for Education Foro Dakar Honduras

05/28/2026

Former President of the World Bank, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State, and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick joins Professor Hansong Li to revisit his vision for a world of stakeholders in this latest global affairs episode of Worldviews. Their conversation considers whether major powers like the U.S. and China can still be thought of as responsible stakeholders, the uncertain future of the WTO, World Bank, and IMF systems, and how the reshaping of U.S. politics is impacting the world at large.

Listen now on Spotify or YouTube: https://youtu.be/d6ZDMmqxcJM?si=pAa55tSNOlQfRzVD

In a world of divisions and discontents, does the vision of nation-states like the U.S., China, and others as responsible stakeholders still hold promise? Wh...

05/27/2026

In this piece originally published by The Conversation, SIS professor Yan Bennett discusses three big takeaways from President Donald Trump’s two-day summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

Read the full analysis on our website ⬇️

Professor Yan Bennett provides major takeaways from President Donald Trump's two-day summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

05/26/2026

"The outbreak […] is not an unlucky collision of a virus, a bat, and a nurse, but is instead a predictable result of interrelated political, social, and economic structures."

In a new Q&A, SIS professor and Chair of the Department of Environment, Development & Health Lauren Carruth unpacks the conditions driving the spread of the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola in the DRC, the WHO’s recent emergency declaration, and how the U.S. withdrawal from the WHO and cuts to USAID, NIH, and the CDC have impacted the global health response.

Read more:

SIS professor Lauren Carruth answers questions about the recent emergency designation from the WHO, the conditions contributing to the current spike of Ebola, and what the global health response looks like in this moment.

05/26/2026

In this latest episode of Big World, Zamaan Qureshi, SIS/BA ’24, co-founder of Design It for Us, explains how platform features like beauty filters, like counts, and infinite scroll are fueling a teen mental health crisis—and what better regulation could look like.

Listen now, wherever you get your podcasts 🔗 https://bit.ly/42fZio2