John Blaxland
Event information
John Blaxland
“Global Security Challenges: The View from Down Under”
LOCATION: World Trade Center, 401 E. Pratt Street, Baltimore, MD 21202
The mood Down Under is fraught with concern. Tensions with China are greater than they have been for generations, with at least four flashpoints is the region – Korea, Taiwan, the South China sea and the East Asian Sea. Amid the challenges to peace and stability, the innate fear in Australia is being abandoned.
Canberra is doing a lot in the region, such as reaching out to friendly states in Asia, but its main hope for deterring China is close cooperation with Washington. That helps explain the 2021 AUKUS agreement with Britain and the United States — a technology transfer agreement under which President Biden agreed to wide-ranging U.S. support for building nuclear-powered submarines in Australia. But where does the relationship go from there?
To learn more about Australia’s goals, join us December 5 when a noted historian, Professor John Blaxland, speaks in person to the Baltimore Council. Dr. Blaxland is the chief representative of the Australia National University in Washington and works closely with the Australian government. The presentation will also be available on Zoom.
About the Speaker
John Blaxland is Professor of International Security and Intelligence Studies at the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre in the Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs, College of Asia and the Pacific at the Australian National University, where he teaches ‘Honeypots and Overcoats: Australian Intelligence in the World’. He is also Director of the ANU North America Liaison Office. A former Army officer, he has written or co-authored a range of books including Revealing Secrets: An Unofficial History of Australian Signals Intelligence and the Advent of Cyber (UNSW Press, 2023);The US-Thai Alliance and Asian International Relations (Routledge, 2021); Niche Wars: Australia in Afghanistan and Iraq 2001–2014 (ANU Press, 2020); In from the Cold: Reflections on Australia’s Korean War (ANU Press, 2020).
To register, please contact programs@bcfausa.org for more information.
Background
Background
For more information on Australia’s role in international security please see:
“Australia’s Growing Defense and Security Role in the Indo-Pacific” – August 1, 2024
“Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific in a New U.S. Administration” – September 26, 2024
“Why the Australian Ambassador Deleted Tweets Critical of Trump” – November 7, 2024
For information on recent developments in Australian national security policy, please see:
‘National security is getting more complex and Australia needs a plan’, Policy Brief, Australian National University, 14 June 2024.
Adapting to Poly-Crisis: A Proposed National Security Strategy for Australia, RSL Defence and National Security Committee – Occasional Paper No. 1, May 2024.
Latest book: (with Clare Birgin) Revealing Secrets: An Unofficial History of Australian Signals Intelligence and the Advent of Cyber (UNSW Press, 2023).
‘Australian Regional Engagement; A Historical and Strategic Perspective‘, The Australian Army Journal, Vol. 20, No. 1, 2024.
‘Revealing Secrets About Deep Australia-UK-US Intelligence Connections‘, Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, May 17, 2024.
‘Australia can’t affor an AUKUS about-face: 5 things the critics are getting wrong‘, The Conversation, September 14, 2024.
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