Dear Readers,
My name’s Eleanor Shiori Hughes, and I’m a Non-Resident Fellow for econVue, based in the Washington, DC area. Although we’re somehow already in mid-February, a new year can present itself with new adventures. That’s why I’m very excited to share that I decided to soft-launch a new podcast series called the Hughes News via econVue’s Substack platform.
New Adventures in 2025: The Inaugural Podcast of "Hughes News"
Over the past few years, I have been incredibly fortunate to share my thoughts about a range of geopolitical developments by publishing articles, co-authored reports, and policy briefs for a number of different think tanks, media outlets, university-affiliated institutes, and EconVue. One reason why this podcast is called Hughes News is because my last name rhymes with the word news. To me, the news is not necessarily all about sharing developments that are currently trending in the media landscape per se, but it is also about sharing tales that should be told, regardless of how timely it is. Thus, the purpose of this platform will be for folks with outside-of-the-box thinking to share important stories that revolve around foreign policy and related subjects. Coincidentally, my last name also happens to be a homophone of the word hues (although Google’s AI function suggests otherwise). Looking back to when I first started my career, writing has certainly brought more color to my life, and my hope is that this platform will do the same.
About This Episode
❝ The brute truth is that Australia would not be putting all of this money, all of this time, all of this effort and all of these resources into the Pacific, were it not for the galvanizing fact of China’s emergence as a major player in the Pacific and China’s desire, as Australia sees it, to try and secure a strategic or a military foothold in the Pacific.
– Stephen Dziedzic, reflecting on Canberra’s motivations to accelerate its outreach to its Pacific partners.
When I first thought of who I’d like to invite to be my first guest for the Hughes News, I knew that I wanted to talk to someone from Australia because it’s a country where I’ve made quite a few personal & professional milestones. That’s why it was a no-brainer for me to ask my friend Stephen Dziedzic to talk about our mutual areas of interest. Stephen is based in Canberra, and he is the Foreign Affairs (Asia Pacific) reporter for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). He is a prolific writer and observer of Australia’s foreign policy, Australia’s activism in the Pacific Islands, Southeast Asia, Australia-China relations and more. When I visited Canberra just days after last year’s US election, Stephen met up with me and several of my other mates, and I’m thankful that all of them were able to tolerate my severely jet-lagged state!
This podcast was recorded on Sunday, February 16th, 2025 in US EST (Monday, February 17th in AEDT). Here is list of some of the topics that Stephen and I talked about:
Stephen’s career path and how he found his calling via journalism
The evolution of Australia’s strategic considerations within its periphery
A year in review: Australia’s diplomatic achievements with the Pacific Islands
New Zealand’s diplomatic kerfuffle with Kiribati
New Zealand’s anxieties about the Cook Islands brokering a new bilateral agreement with China via the Action Plan for Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP) 2025-2030
You can find the audio version of our podcast recording below:
Conclusion
Stephen and I could have undoubtedly spent hours dissecting these issues - and a number of other foreign policy topics that were not brought up during this episode. This enriching discussion serves as an informative scene-setter for those who are keen to follow the many moving pieces regarding Australia’s statecraft in the Pacific and the Cook Islands’ freshly-minted strategic partnership with China, among other subjects. Whether you watch our recording, or listen to the audio version, I hope that you enjoy Stephen’s insights as much as I did.
Finally, for those of you who’ve already subscribed to econVue, thank you as always for your continued engagement. I extend my best wishes to you all during what Stephen and I both consider to be interesting times to be living in.
💬 Eleanor
📍Arlington, VA
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