John Blaxland is a Professor in International Security and Intelligence Studies, Director ANU Southeast Asia Institute, and Head at the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre at ANU. He holds a PhD in War Studies from the Royal Military College of Canada, an MA in History from ANU, a BA (Hons) from UNSW and is a graduate of the Royal Thai Army Command and Staff College and the Royal Military Colllege, Duntroon (Blamey Scholar). He is a former Director Joint Intelligence Operations (J2), at Headquarters Joint Operations Command and was Australia’s Defence Attaché to Thailand and Burma/Myanmar. He is a member of the ANU Academic Board as well as the Australian Army Journal editorial board and also an occasional commentator in the media.