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Prof John Blaxland

PhD (War Studies), MA (History), BA (Hons 1), psc (RT)
Professor of International Security & Intelligence Studies, Strategic and Defence Studies Centre

Dr John Blaxland is Director of the ANU North America Liaison Office and Professor of International Security and Intelligence Studies in the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre (SDSC), Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs, College of Asia and the Pacific at the Australian National University (ANU).

He is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, a Fellow of the Royal Society of New South Wales and a Fellow of the Australian Institute of International Affairs. He is also the first Australian recipient of a US Department of Defense Minerva Research Initiative grant (2015-18). Prior to academia, John was a military intelligence officer, serving as Chief Intelligence Staff Officer (J2) at HQ Joint Operations Command, and defence attaché to Thailand and Myanmar. He was also the brigade intelligence officer (S2) for the land component of the International Force East Timor (INTERFET). He was posted as an exchange officer at the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency in Washington DC (including for a deployment with 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit on USS Boxer) and was awarded a U.S. Meritorious Service Medal for his contribution. At ANU he has served as Head of SDSC and Director of the ANU Southeast Asia Institute. He has taught "Southeast Asian Security Studies" and “Honeypots and Overcoats: Australian Intelligence in the World” and supervised several PhD students.

John is an Australian citizen, born in Chile. He went to school at Barker College, Sydney. He is a graduate of the Royal Military College, Duntroon (Blamey Scholar), the University of New South Wales (BA Hons. 1), the ANU (MA), the Royal Thai Army Command and Staff College (diploma), and the Royal Military College of Canada (PhD, War Studies).

His books and monographs include:

Along with Dr Rhys Crawley, in 2018 John won the US Association of Former Intelligence Officers Best Foreign Intelligence Book Award for The Secret Cold War.

John has also published articles and chapters in edited works on how wars end, drones, leadership, intelligence, Second World War intelligence arrangements, Australian Army infantry, US-Australia security ties, Australia-Canada military relations, Defence Cooperation in Asia and Southeast Asian security.

In recent years he has lectured regularly at the ANU National Security College (on the Geostrategic SWOT Analysis for Australia) and Australian Defence College (including the Defence and Strategic Studies Course, Command and Staff Course, Australian Defence Force Academy and Royal Military College, Duntroon). He also teaches at the Republic of Indonesia Defense University. He is on the editorial board of the Australian Army Journal and the Journal of Global Strategic Studies and is a member of the Returned and Services League Defence and National Security Committee.

He has also addressed conferences and workshops on security in Australia (RUSI, U3A, Army Research Centre, Seapower Conference, The Sydney Institute, etc) Malaysia, Korea, Thailand (Thammasat, Chulalongkorn and military academies), the Philippines, Taiwan, UK (Kings College London), the USA (Minerva, CSIS, East West Centre, Harvard Asia Center, etc) Canada and Norway, and offers commentary with The Australian Institute of International Affairs, The Guardian, The Age & Sydney Morning Herald, Canberra Times, The Australian, The New York Times, Bangkok Post, The Straits Times, The Jakarta Post, Asia Times, Australian Foreign Affairs, The Conversation, The Saturday Paper, Lowy Interpreter, The Mandarin, East Asia Forum, SCMP, World Politics Review, The Diplomat, Policy Forum, The RAND Blog, Voices of War, Security Challenges, The Australian Army Journal, Defence Connect, The Redline Podcast, Spycast Podcast, SAGE International Podcast, the Journal of Global Strategic Studies and the Georgetown Journal of International Affairs.

He also occasionally offers comments on television and radio including on the ABC, BBC, Sixty Minutes, CNN, SkyNews, TRT World, Arirang, WION, France24 and CNA.

Along the way, John has been an advocate for a new Reconciliation Flag for Australia in 2013, 2014 and 2015 and more recently.

Some of his recent articles & appearances include:

PhDs supervised

Master’s theses supervised

Honours theses supervised

  • Philip Etches, ‘Roadmaps to Nowhere?: The Uncertain Influence of Jihadi Strategic Thinkers Upon Insurgencies in Iraq’ (ANU, October 2018)
  • Cherry Zheng, ‘Sunzi Studies in Contemporary China: Creating a Cosmocrat’ (ANU, University Medallist, November 2021)
  • Ingrid Lennon, ‘Australia’s Power and Influence: Domestic Foundations for Success’ (ANU, November 2021)
  • Anastasia Kalloniati, ‘Conceptions of Terrorism in Australia and Canada, 1968-2000: A Comparative Historical Analysis’ (ANU, University Medallist, 2023)

Research Interest

Intelligence, Cyber and Security; Australian Military History and Strategy; Military Operations (including Korea, Iraq and Afghanistan); International Relations, on Asia Pacific security affairs, notably South-east Asia/ASEAN (Thailand, Myanmar, Timor Leste, Indonesia, South China Sea) and North America, (Canada and the United States); Defence Studies; Australian Flag.

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