Professor John Blaxland
Head of The Strategic and Defence Studies Centre: 2017 - 2019

John Blaxland is Professor of International Security and Intelligence Studies at the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre at ANU. He is also a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and Fellow of the Royal Society of New South Wales. In addition, he is a member of the Australian Army Journal editorial board and an occasional commentator in the media.

John holds a PhD in War Studies from the Royal Military College of Canada, an MA in History from ANU and a BA (Hons 1) from the University of New South Wales. He is also a graduate of the Royal Thai Army Command & Staff College (dux, foreign students) and the Royal Military College, Duntroon (Blamey Scholar).

He has extensive experience in the intelligence community including as the principal intelligence staff officer for the Australian brigade in East Timor in September 1999, as an intelligence exchange officer in Washington DC, as Director Joint Intelligence Operations (J2), at Headquarters Joint Operations Command (2006/7) and as a lead author of the three-volume history of ASIO. In addition, he was Australia’s Defence Attaché to Thailand and Myanmar.

His publications and research interests concern intelligence and the security arms of government, Australian military history and strategy, defence studies, military operations (including East Timor, Korea, Iraq and Afghanistan); international relations, notably on South-east Asia (Thailand, Myanmar, Timor Leste, Indonesia, South China Sea), North America, (Canada/United States) and Australia’s Flag.

At the Australian National University, he teaches the undergraduate course ‘Honeypots and Overcoats: Australian Intelligence in the World’, and the postgraduate course ‘Intelligence and Security’ for the Master of Strategic Studies program. Professor Blaxland also supervises a number of students undertaking higher degrees by research.

Research interests

His publications and research interests concern intelligence and the security arms of government, Australian military history and strategy, defence studies, military operations (including East Timor, Korea, Iraq and Afghanistan); international relations, notably on South-east Asia (Thailand, Myanmar, Timor Leste, Indonesia, South China Sea, ASEAN), and North America, (Canada/United States).

Key publications

His books include The Secret Cold War: The Official History of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation 1975-1989 (Allen & Unwin 2016), East Timor Intervention (MUP, 2015), The Protest Years (A&U, 2015), The Australian Army From Whitlam to Howard (CUP, 2014), Strategic Cousins (MQUP, 2006), Revisiting Counterinsurgency (LWSC, 2006), Information era Manoeuvre (LWSC, 2002), Signals (RASigs, 1999) and Organising an Army (SDSC, 1989).