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PODCAST

Views from Down Underer

Institute for Indo-Pacific Affairs

Analysis, news commentary, and opinions on the international relations of the Indo-Pacific and beyond as seen from the region by people from the region. An initiative of the Institute for Indo-Pacific Affairs (www.indopac.nz) in Christchurch, New Zealand, the podcast is hosted by Professor Alex Tan of the University of Canterbury (Christchurch, New Zealand) with panelists Associate Professor Nick Khoo of the University of Otago (Dunedin, New Zealand), Dr Orson Tan and Katie Mills of the Institute

news news commentary

All Episodes

73:04

Ep.102: UK PM Andy Burnham emotional speech; Man...

Views from Down Underer ·

2026/10/04

Burnham delivered an emotional speech to party faithful. English Premier League team Manchester City was found guilty of charges on financial impropriety. Xi-Trump meeting in Washington, DC.

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65:56

Ep. 101: AfD wins German state election, Trump offers...

Views from Down Underer ·

2026/09/13

AfD- considered an extreme right German party- won Lander election in Saxony-Anhalt. What are the implications of this historic state election victory? Is dealignment happening in the German party system? US President Trump is offering all Americans $5k if the Republicans win the midterm election. This is the first time a clear monetary reward is offered to voters by a US president. Is this vote-buying? US Treasury Bond interest rates are rising despite Treasury's market intervention. What is

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66:06

Ep. 100: US-Canada trade war

Views from Down Underer ·

2026/08/31

This is our 100th episode. We discussed the US-Canada trade war. What happened? What next for Canada?

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73:30

Ep. 99: NZ pre-election coalition politics, NZ...

Views from Down Underer ·

2026/08/04

Recent party support polling is affecting the pre-election coalition politicking. Is the stale NZ party system ready for rejuvenation with the rise of the Opportunity Party? NZ Foreign Minister's unkindly remarks in a parliamentary debate made headlines in Asian media of the wrong kind. Why is it happening at this time of NZ politics. FIFA announced a money-grabbing proposal of partially privatising its signature events -- World Cup and Club World Cup. It fell flat on its face before taking

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64:46

Ep. 96: RNZAF P-8 in East China Sea, leaked email of...

Views from Down Underer ·

2026/05/04

RNZAF plane flies to East China Sea to participate in an international mission but the PRC Foreign Affairs Ministry criticised NZ for this flight. There is drama around the leaked emails regarding the position of the NZ Prime Minister about the Iran conflict. The email was supposed to be leaked by the Foreign Minister and NZ news outlets have been giving coverage about this 'scandal.' Banksy placed a recent sculpture in central London that many art observers say is a critique of 'blind

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78:29

Ep. 94: Iran conflict again; NZ-Cook Island security...

Views from Down Underer ·

2026/04/06

US-Israeli conflict with Iran is still ongoing and with the global economy held hostage due to the 'closure' of the Strait of Hormuz, US president Trump said that keeping the Strait open is not the US's problem. In a reverse 'Pottery Barn rule' -- US breaks it but does not want to own it. Even better it is what we call the 'Pampers rule' -- I make a mess, you clean up for me. NZ-Cook Island signed a pact a year after Cook Island surprised NZ with a partnership with China. Is this NZ exercising

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67:07

Ep. 91: Iran attacked by US and Israel

Views from Down Underer ·

2026/03/03

US and Israel attacked Iran that killed Iran's top leadership. Iran has responded by expanding the conflict to neighboring states. The Strait of Hormuz is now closed and air travel is impacted. Why is this happening at this time? What are the implications?

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66:55

Ep. 89: NZ-India FTA, Japan's LDP wins, AI and jobs

Views from Down Underer ·

2026/02/17

Will the NZ-India FTA see the light of day? PM Takaichi leads Japan's LDP to a big electoral victory. Singapore's Deputy PM raised concern about AI and its impact on jobs and the future economy.

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65:06

Ep. 83: Trading democracy off for desirable outcomes?

Views from Down Underer ·

2025/10/13

We discuss a forthcoming research article to be published at the Comparative Political Studies by Jonathan Chu and colleagues on whether people are willing to trade-off democracy for desirable outcomes. The paper using experiments show that while free and fair elections are a desired, people in the six countries they studied (including US, Japan, Italy) are willing to trade it off to avoid living in dangerous societies.

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01:03:16

Ep. 79: Putin-Trump Alaska summit and Chinese ship...

Views from Down Underer ·

2025/08/18

What happened or not in the Alaska summit between Trump and Putin? Two Chinese ships collided while doing a pincer move chasing a Philippine coast guard vessel. Will there be escalation in the future?

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01:07:07

Ep. 76: Tariff letters, Australian FM speech in Kuala...

Views from Down Underer ·

2025/07/14

White House has sent out tariff letters to numerous countries but the the import taxes do not take effect till August 1st. FM Penny Wong gave a speech in the ASEAN meeting about managing differences between allies. Other interesting news such as the confirmation grilling of the US ambassador-designate to Singapore, the advanced RAF fighter jet stuck in India, and how Myanmar military junta received the US tariff letters.

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01:07:54

Ep. 75: China-EU meeting, China pressuring to not...

Views from Down Underer ·

2025/07/07

China's FM had a meeting with EU counterpart to discuss outstanding issues on bilateral relations. A Philippine documentary "Food Delivery" on the South China Sea has received attention such that there are active lobbying by Chinese diplomats to not show the documentary. There is still continuing fallout from the leaked call of the Thai PM with former Cambodian PM. Thai PM is suspended pending investigation while calls for her resignation gets louder.

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01:07:35

Ep. 73: Israel-Iran conflict, NZ PM's upcoming...

Views from Down Underer ·

2025/06/15

Israel attacked Iran to decapitate its nuclear program and Iran retaliated with missile and drone attacks. Will this turn into a regional war? NZ PM will visit Beijing, with lots going on domestically and internationally what are some of their likely talking points? Pentagon has decided to review the AUKUS arrangements catching Australia by surprise and also ahead of an upcoming visit by the Australian PM to the US. US Army celebrated its 250th anniversary with a military parade which are rare in

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01:00:40

Macron and Hegseth speeches at the 2025 Shangrila...

Views from Down Underer ·

2025/06/03

Shangrila Dialogue was held in Singapore last week. French president Macron spoke of the importance of Europe to engage Asia. US defense secretary Hegseth warns about hedging and implores regional states to spend at least 5% on their defense. Interestingly, China did not send their defense minister instead an academic delegation from their defense university.

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01:03:14

Ep. 69: IR scholar Joe Nye, Pope Leo XIV, Asia's...

Views from Down Underer ·

2025/05/11

Prominent international relations scholar, Joseph Nye, passes away. We chat about his contribution to the study of international relations. Catholic Church has a new pope and the first born in the US. Asia's demand for US dollar is waning, what does it mean and what are likely implications? US is upping intelligence gathering on Greenland and Danish government protests this action.

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01:00:39

About the 2025 State of Southeast Asia Survey by...

Views from Down Underer ·

2025/04/20

The new State of Southeast Asia Survey is out and provides a snapshot of public opinions from SEA about all things that concern the region. Here is a link to the survey: https://www.iseas.edu.sg/centres/asean-studies-centre/state-of-southeast-asia-survey/the-state-of-southeast-asia-2025-survey-report/

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01:01:04

South Korean president removed from office, White...

Views from Down Underer ·

2025/04/07

South Korean constitutional court removes president Yoon for declaring an illegal martial law in early December 2024. New presidential election is set for June 3rd. Trump administration launched the so called 'liberation day' by slapping 'reciprocal' tariffs on its own major trading partners. Markets are reacting with the significant declines of major stock markets.

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01:03:21

Ep. 59: CDU tops German elections but AfD made gains;...

Views from Down Underer ·

2025/03/02

The 2025 German Federal election results are out: governing SPD is third, CDU/CSU is tops, the far right AfD came in a strong second. What is the new picture of vote distribution across Germany? What does it mean for coalition and future governance? What does it mean for its foreign policy? Ukraine's president Zelensky went to the Oval Office expecting to discuss and then sign the US-Ukraine mineral deal, instead he got a 'shakedown' by US President Trump and VP Vance all caught on live TV. He

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01:02:01

Episode 56: Trump foreign policy, Gaza proposal,...

Views from Down Underer ·

2025/02/08

Busy two weeks of Trump's administration and foreign policy is no exception -- Gaza proposal, hard talk about Panama Canal, turning El Salvador as a penal colony. Malaysia's chairing of ASEAN has been quiet and unambitious thus far, why?

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59:28

Episode 54: Biden's farewell address, Gaza ceasefire,...

Views from Down Underer ·

2025/01/21

Biden bows out of politics with his farewell address. Trump claims he has a hand in the Gaza ceasefire. India seems to be acknowledging an assassination plot on a US citizen. Landmines was stored wrongly in IKEA and a Polish general responsible for logistics was fired. After years of National Geographic's Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego program, the defense secretary nominee cannot identify a member of ASEAN.

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