ANU Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs

14/09/2026

Distinguished Policy Fellow James Batley from our Department of Pacific Affairs spoke to the ABC about Australia's in-principle agreement with Solomon Islands on a new treaty.

He discussed Canberra's significant financial commitments under the proposed deal, including expanded funding for MP-directed constituency development, and the transparency and accountability measures likely to accompany that funding as negotiations near completion.

Read the article: https://quicklink.anu.edu.au/7evq

11/09/2026

Dr Nicholas Chan from our Strategic and Defence Studies Centre has published a blog piece with Stanford University Press.

The piece draws on his new book, The Politics of Counter-Terror: Islam and Security in the Postcolonial Muslim State. It examines how Malaysia built a counter-terrorism regime that treats violent radicalisation largely as a problem of religious misinterpretation, tracing this back to decades of state efforts to position Islam within the international order.

Read the blog: https://quicklink.anu.edu.au/9sd1

08/09/2026

He was arrested watching the premiere of a movie about his own rise to power. Two decades later, he was a decorated "patriot." Associate Professors Greg Raymond and Graeme Smith trace how China's United Front machinery and transnational crime networks intersect across Southeast Asia and the Pacific, and why Beijing cracks down on some criminals while leaving others untouched.

Read the article: https://quicklink.anu.edu.au/5anp

07/09/2026

Save the date: join us for the 12th Oceanic Conference on International Studies (OCIS), taking place 7 to 9 July 2027 at The University of the South Pacific (USP) in Suva, Fiji.

Our theme for the 2027 conference is Pluralism and Hope: World Politics and Pacific International Relations.

The Call for Proposals is now open and we invite panels, roundtables, innovative sessions and individual papers from across the broad field of international studies. We particularly welcome participation from Pacific scholars and researchers, practitioners, policymakers, community-based researchers, postgraduate students and early career researchers.

Submit your proposal here: https://ocis.org.au/2027-call-for-papers/

This conference is proudly co-hosted by USP and the Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs.

04/09/2026

See our upcoming events this September.
🎟️ Register here: https://quicklink.anu.edu.au/ixf7

03/09/2026

America's retreat from global leadership under President Trump has been swift and erratic. China, Russia and India are on the move. This thoroughly updated and expanded edition of Hugh White's bestselling Quarterly Essay examines why America has "lost" Asia, what is driving events in Ukraine and the Middle East, and why complacency about the American alliance, including AUKUS, is no longer an option.

Read an excerpt from Hard New World via ANU Reporter.
https://quicklink.anu.edu.au/3s4p

02/09/2026

2026 Robert O'Neill War Studies Lecture: The Transformative War: Australia in the war of 1939–45

The dominance of the Anzac legend in Australia's political culture has tended to relegate World War II to a secondary place in national memory. Professor Emerita Joan Beaumont will argue that if we shift focus to the mobilisation of the post-Depression economy for war production, and Australia's support of US troops through Mutual Aid (Lend Lease), a different story emerges. Domestically, the war transformed Australia in a way that World War I never did.

Chaired by Associate Professor Amy King, Head of our Strategic and Defence Studies Centre.

The annual Robert O'Neill War Studies Public Lecture honours the late Emeritus Professor Robert O'Neill AO, former Head of SDSC and a leading scholar in strategic and security studies.

📅 28 October 2026, 5.30–7pm @ ANU
🎫

Australia's WWII contribution is overshadowed by the Anzac legend, but wartime economic mobilisation transformed the nation. Joan Beaumont delivers the 2026 Robert O'Neill Lecture.

01/09/2026

The recording of this much-anticipated conversation between Emeritus Professor Hugh White, from our Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, and Allegra Spender is now available.

Watch the full conversation here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uyFcP6b924

31/08/2026

Twenty-five years on from the September 11 attacks, the Bell School is hosting a public conversation on what they meant for global security and how Australia responded.

Professor Dakota Rudesill, a US constitutional-law scholar, and former Chief of the Defence Force Admiral Chris Barrie AC, RAN (Retd), join moderator Professor Mark Kenny to discuss the human toll of 9/11, Australia's invocation of ANZUS, the Afghanistan war, and the growth of counter-terror powers.

🗓️Friday 11 September, 6pm @ ANU

Registration is essential for this in-person event:

Get tickets on Humanitix - 9/11 at 25: Security, War and Democracy — What Australia Should Learn hosted by Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs . Theatrette 2.02, Sir Roland Wilson Building, 120 McCoy Cct, Canberra ACT 2600, Australia. Friday 11th September 2026. Find event information.

13/08/2026

Congratulations to Emeritus Professor Paul Hutchcroft from our Department of Political and Social Change who was awarded ANU HDR Supervisor of the Month for July 2026.

The award recognises excellent practice in HDR supervision across ANU. Paul's approach centres on mutual understanding and mutual respect, drawing on the distinctive experience, goals & expertise each candidate brings to their research.

If you know a supervisor, convener, or administrator who supports HDR candidates well, you can nominate them here: https://quicklink.anu.edu.au/7xf7