James Curran

　　James Curran is the International Editor at the Australian Financial Review (AFR) and Professor of Modern History at Sydney University, where he specialises in foreign relations history and the problem of nationalism.

　　James has written for major US foreign policy journals such as Diplomatic History and The Journal of Cold War Studies along with The National Interest.  He has also drafted policy briefs and reports for prominent think tanks such as the Lowy Institute and China Matters. 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.  Formerly a non-resident fellow at the Lowy Institute and the US Studies Centre, he 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, Curran 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. He also wrote a biography of Australian Rugby Legend David Campese, Campese: The Last of the Dream Sellers (Scribe, 2021).

　　In addition to his many articles in the press, Curran has also written for Australian Foreign Affairs, the Council on Foreign Relations ‘Asia Unbound’ blog, the East Asia Forum. He is regularly sought for comment on foreign affairs by the Financial Times, The Washington Post and the New York Times.■