Allan Gyngell

Allan Gyngel was the Director-General of the Australian Office of National Assessments (ONA) from 2009 to 2013 and the founding Executive Director of the Lowy Institute for International Policy (2003-9) in Sydney.

Allan Gyngell reviews ‘Facing North: A Century of Australian Engagement with Asia, Volume 2, 1970s to 2000’ edited by Peter Edwards and David Goldsworthy and ‘Losing the Blanket: Australia and the End of Britain’s Empire’ by David Goldsworthy

October 2003, no. 255 • 01 October 2003

From this post-September 11 vantage point, the great debate about which Australian political party could claim to have done more to develop the country’s relations with Asia already seems bathed in a gentle glow of nostalgia. Back in the late 1990s, when issues of Australia’s identity with Asia had greater salience than they now do, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade decided to commis ... (read more)

Allan Gyngell reviews ‘The Responsibility to Protect: End mass atrocity crimes once and for all’ by Gareth Evans

March 2009, no. 309 • 01 March 2009

Gareth Evans has strong claims to being the most influential Australian political figure of the past half century on the international stage. As foreign minister, he helped bring about the Cambodia peace settlement and negotiate the Chemical Weapons Convention. His energetic post-political life has encompassed the leadership of an outstanding non-government organisation, the International Crisis G ... (read more)

Allan Gyngell reviews 'The Howard Paradox: Australian diplomacy in Asia 1996–2006' by Michael Wesley

May 2007, no. 291 • 01 May 2007

Canberra’s week of the two presidents – October 2003 – brought the unprecedented spectacle of George W. Bush and China’s President Hu Jintau speaking just a day apart to joint sittings of the Australian parliament. The coincidence elegantly dramatised the central questions for Australian foreign policy: how we manage our relationships with our superpower ally, how we live with our neighbou ... (read more)