How do we account for the current state of the debate over Australian foreign and defence policy and what are the key challenges that lie ahead in looking to the mid 2030s? In his address, Professor James Curran will consider what he sees as some of the forces shaping the strategic discussion at this moment: its intellectual incoherence, the fear amongst the political class of offending tribal electorates, legitimate concerns over China's assertiveness, anxieties about offending the US ally and taking cover behind Washington's own incoherent policy, and at times the near absolute general uninterest in actual events.

He will ask whether these factors are becoming more formative of public policy than anything else, and whether they reflect an Australian apathy that is also fuelled by residual worries about American commitment to Asia. His address will anchor its foundations in longstanding debates over independence and identity, democracy and dependence, as well as the much under-studied role of culture in the making of foreign relations.

James Curran is the Financial Review’s International Editor and professor of modern history at Sydney University. He serves on the DFAT Historical Documents Advisory Committee. James has written for major US foreign policy journals and drafted policy briefs and reports for prominent think tanks. His latest book, Australia’s China Odyssey: From Euphoria to Fear is a study of the history of the relationship from 1949 to the present and was endorsed by former senior Australian diplomats such as John McCarthy, Peter Varghese and Dennis Richardson. James was a delegate to the UK-Australia Leadership Dialogue at Lancaster House in 2018 and in the same year was an invited delegate to the Shrangi-La Dialogue in Singapore. Prior to joining Sydney University, he served in various roles in the Australian Public Service. From 2002 to 2005 he worked as a Policy Adviser in the Department of The Prime Minister and Cabinet, serving in its International Division. This included a short secondment to the US Alliance policy division in the Department of Defence. From 2005 to 2007, he was a senior intelligence analyst at the Office of National Assessments, where he specialised in US foreign policy, US domestic politics and Latin America. In 2013, James was the Keith Cameron Chair of Australian History at University College Dublin and in 2010 a Fulbright Scholar at Georgetown University in Washington DC. His books include Fighting with America: Why Saying No to the US wouldn’t rupture the Alliance (2016) Unholy Fury: Nixon and Whitlam at War (2015) and Curtin’s Empire 2011. Curran’s first book, The Power of Speech: Australian Prime Ministers Define the National Image (2004) was shortlisted for both the Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards and the NSW Premier’s History Prize, while The Unknown Nation-Australia After Empire (2010) co-authored with Stuart Ward, was shortlisted for the Prime Minister’s Australian History Prize in 2011. In addition to his newspaper column, Curran has also written for The National Interest, Australian Foreign Affairs, the Council on Foreign Relations ‘Asia Unbound’ blog, the East Asia Forum and the Straits Times. He is regularly sought for comment on foreign affairs by the Financial Times, The Washington Post, The South China Morning Post and The New York Times.