GRIPS International Advisory Committee* (IAC) member, the Hon Alexander Downer AC has had a long and distinguished political career in Australia. Beginning in 1976 at the Department of Foreign Affairs, he was elected to the Federal Parliament in 1984 and served as Australia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1996 to 2007, making him Australia’s longest-serving Foreign Minister. He is currently the Australian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and visited GRIPS in his capacity as a valued member of the IAC.

The National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) was honored to host Alexander Downer over November 16-17, 2015 in his capacity as member of the GRIPS International Advisory Committee.

Over the course of the two days, Mr. Downer gave a 90 minute address to an audience of around 230 people, met with the executive team headed by the GRIPS President, and hosted informal Q&A sessions with enthusiastic GRIPS students from a variety of countries.

The Monday afternoon address was part of the very popular GRIPS Forum series, in which the Institute invites distinguished guests to contribute to dialogue concerning policy issues in the world and to take part in a Q&A session with the audience. Mr. Downer’s discussion covered a wide range of topics, including economic growth in Asia, the rise of China and how Australia should position itself for peace and prosperity as the worlds’ geo-political center gravitates towards the Asian region. While recent world events relating to terror would perhaps suggest otherwise, Mr. Downer told the audience there was room to feel optimistic about the future of the globe.

The talk also included some simple but sound advice for future graduates heading into foreign diplomacy roles that in order to succeed in contemporary world politics, students needed to understand two key things.

(The first is) ‘to understand economics and how the global economy works, but to also have a sense of history, because whatever country people come from, those peoples are informed and educated by the stories of their society and because of this, different societies have different interpretations of the same events.’

Mr. Downer also touched on the Australia-Japan bilateral relationship asserting that ‘the relationship is one of the happiest that Australia has with any country – not just in the Indo-Pacific Region, but in the world.’

The audience then quizzed Mr. Downer on a wide range of issues including the Indonesian-Australian bilateral relationship, the future of energy, as well as terrorism.

On the Tuesday morning, Mr. Downer held frank and open discussions with students from the ‘Young Leaders Program (YLP)’ as well as the ‘GRIPS Global Governance Program (G-cube)’ which allowed the IAC member to understand and appreciate student concerns as well as listen to the aspirations of the student body. Mr. Downer asked a variety of questions ranging from how GRIPS was assisting in them in attaining ‘Asian Literacy,’ to their everyday life in Tokyo.

GRIPS President Shiraishi said it was a special honor to host Mr. Downer in his capacity as IAC member and that the High Commissioner gave him a lot to think about with relation to the future direction of GRIPS.

You can view Mr. Downer’s address here. (best launched from Internet Explorer)

*The GRIPS International Advisory Committee (IAC) was set up in 2014 to provide advice on what GRIPS should do in the next five years to enhance its competitiveness and reputation as a policy school. The IAC was planned and implemented under the initiative of our President, Takashi Shiraishi.

Photos:

Top left: Downer gives the 117th GRIPS Forum, November 16^th, 2015.

Top right: Security and International Studies PhD student Pandu Utama Manggala from Indonesia during the Q&A session.

Middle left, middle right: Downer discusses the GRIPS experience with currently enrolled YLP students Diana Ciszewska, Olimjonov Lazizjon, Nicholas Latimer and Gaurav Pundir.

Bottom left: With G-cube students, Nicholas Ayamga and Ibrahim Zuhuree.

Bottom Right: Group photo with GRIPS executives