DrJohn 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). A former Australian military intelligence officer, he is a trusted and highly regarded historian who has authored or co-authored over a dozen broad-ranging works on international, military, security and intelligence affairs. He is also an occasional media commentator.

John 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).

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. He is also a member of the ANU Institute for Climate Energy and Disaster Solutions (ICEDS)

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. Earlier on he was an instructor at the Royal Military College, Duntroon and led a historical trek in Papua New Guinea across the Finesterre Range, known as ‘Shaggy Ridge’.

John is an Australian citizen, born in Chile. He went to school at Barker College, Sydney and received a Gold Duke of Edinburgh Award. 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).

This guest lecture is co-hosted by Queen’s CIDP and RKUSI.  Registration details to follow.