For our June Afternoon Light Live, we are delighted to bring to you Professor Michael Wesley, Deputy Vice Chancellor (Global, Culture and Engagement) at the University of Melbourne.

Michael will discuss his provocative new Quarterly essay Blind Spot: Southeast Asia and Australia’s Future in which he argues that Australia has become dangerously disconnected from the region that matters most to our security and prosperity: Southeast Asia.

The discussion will explore Australia’s changing place in the Indo-Pacific, the rise of China, the perspectives of our Southeast Asian neighbours, and whether Australian foreign policy has developed a dangerous “blind spot” when it comes to our own region.

We invite you to join us online OR attend in person (if you are in Melbourne) at the Robert Menzies Institute by registering via Eventbrite.

Event Details

Date: Wednesday 17 June 2026
Time: 3pm-4pm (AEST)
Venue: Live Online over Zoom/ Robert Menzies Institute, Old Quad, East Wing, University of Melbourne, Parkville (for live audience).
Tickets: FREE registration to join online available HERE/ To attend in person, register HERE (limited seating)

This is a non-catered event.

Michael and Georgina will talk for the first 30 min, and the next 30 min will be audience Q&A.

ABOUT PROFESSOR MICHAEL WESLEY

Michael Wesley is Professor of International Relations and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Global, Culture and Engagement) at the University of Melbourne.

His research focuses on three key themes: Australian foreign policy, particularly in relation to the Asia-Pacific; security competition and geopolitics in the Asia-Pacific region; and state-building interventions.

His work on Australian foreign policy began with a collaboration with Allan Gyngell on Making Australian Foreign Policy (Cambridge, 2003; second edition 2007), an influential study of how Australian foreign policy is formulated.

He has also examined traditions of thought in Australian foreign policy, comparative approaches to foreign policy under Labor and Coalition governments in The Howard Paradox: Australian Diplomacy in Asia 1996–2006 (ABC Books, 2007), and the objectives, techniques and challenges of Australia’s engagement with Asia in There Goes the Neighbourhood: Australia and the Rise of Asia (NewSouth Books, 2011).