Lowy Lecture Series: Inflection point: the Australian Defence Force after Afghanistan - Professor Alan Dupont

With a new Defence White Paper on the horizon the time is right to begin a robust public debate about the priorities of the ADF. Non-Resident Senior Fellow Professor Alan Dupont will launch his latest research paper, Inflection Point: The Australian Defence Force after Afghanistan, which suggests that as the ADF transitions from involvement in the Afghanistan conflict the risks of failing to adjust and adapt to new security circumstances are especially high. Professor Dupont will argue that high-end, state-on-state warfare should not be the principal determinant of the future structure or capability of the ADF and that Australia risks repeating the mistakes of the post-Vietnam era by preparing the military for the wrong conflicts, developing ill-conceived strategy, and chronically underfunding capabilities.

Professor Alan Dupont is the inaugural director of the Institute for International Security and Development at the University of NSW. Previously he was the Director of the Centre for International Security Studies at the University of Sydney. He holds a PhD in International Relations from the Australian National University and is a graduate of the Royal Military College, Duntroon, and the US Foreign Service Institute. He has worked on Australian defence and Asian security issues for more than thirty years as a strategist, diplomat, policy analyst and scholar. Professor Dupont was Senior Fellow for International Security at the Lowy Institute and a Senior Fellow at the Australian National University's Strategic and Defence Studies Centre. He was also acting CEO of the University of Sydney's United States Studies Centre. During his time in government he served in the Departments of Defence and Foreign Affairs and Trade which included postings with the Australian embassies in Seoul and Jakarta, the latter as Counsellor. He has also worked as a freelance journalist in South America.

Please join us for a lively and thought-provoking discussion.