Democracy Sausage: Axis of upheaval
This podcast was first published in ANU Reporter.
Jane discusses with the ANU’s Professor Mark Kenny Chinese leader Xi Jingping’s strategic jamboree with the world’s most powerful autocrats, who in September 2025 all stood with Xi on a balcony overlooking Tiananmen Square, in a photo-op straight from 1949.
Former senior Australian diplomat Jane Hardy joins Democracy Sausage to examine the new alliances emerging from Beijing's recent military parade and what they mean for global security.
Former senior Australian diplomat Jane Hardy joins Democracy Sausage to examine the new alliances emerging from Beijing’s recent military parade and what they mean for global security.
What does it mean when India’s Modi holds hands with Putin while Trump imposes punishing tariffs on supposed allies? How has North Korea quietly amassed enough material for 50 nuclear warheads? And is the West’s post-war alliance system finally crumbling under the weight of America First policies?
On this episode of Democracy Sausage, Professor Mark Kenny talks with Jane Hardy about the rise of the “axis of upheaval” and her firsthand experiences inside North Korea.
Jane Hardy is a former Australian senior career diplomat and Australian Government official. Over three decades, Jane served in seven Australian embassies in the Indo-Pacific region, the United States and Europe, four at ambassador level.
Mark Kenny is the Director of the ANU Australian Studies Institute. He came to the University after a high-profile journalistic career including six years as chief political correspondent and national affairs editor for The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Canberra Times.
Democracy Sausage with Mark Kenny is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts, Google Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. We’d love to hear your feedback on this series, so send in your questions, comments or suggestions for future episodes to democracysausage@anu.edu.au.
This podcast is produced by The Australian National University.
