Ben Scott

Director, Australia’s Security and the Rules-Based Order Project
Areas of expertise

Australian national security policy; International rules and norms; US foreign policy; the Middle East

Ben Scott
Biography
Publications

Ben Scott is a Senior Advisor at the Australian National University’s National Security College. He has more than 25 years’ experience in diplomacy, think tanks, intelligence and international development. He served as the Director of the Australia’s Security and the Rules-Based Order Project at the Lowy Institute from 2020 to 2022, and at the Office of National Intelligence (ONI), which he represented in Washington, DC from 2016-2020.

Ben has published widely on national security decision-making, international order, US grand strategy and competition with China, cyber strategy and intelligence.

He also has extensive experience in the Middle East, as: a senior analyst at ONI; Rule of Law Adviser to Quartet Representative Tony Blair; Australian Representative to the Palestinian Authority and Third Secretary at the Australian Embassy in Tel Aviv. He served as a Bougainville peace monitor for six months in 1998.

Ben was a Diplomatic Fellow at the Lowy Institute in 2005 and wrote the Lowy Institute Paper, Re-imagining PNG: Culture, Democracy and Australia’s Role.

Australia's Security and the Rules-Based Order: Tracking a Decade of Policy Evolution
Interactives
Australia's Security and the Rules-Based Order: Tracking a Decade of Policy Evolution
In this feature, we identify ten recurring propositions about the rules-based order and show it's evolution through national debate and government policy. Explore how the rules…
Smart China choices
Smart China choices
Australia’s relationship with China is unavoidably asymmetric. That shouldn’t stop Australia finding a competitive edge.
China and the Rules‑Based Order
Interactives
China and the Rules‑Based Order
Seven experts debate China’s approach to the rules‑based international order
Hidden seams in the UAE-Israel deal
Hidden seams in the UAE-Israel deal
It’s all about Iran, right? Actually, the agreement has more to do with managing the US and China.
Book review: “The false promise of liberal order”
Book review: “The false promise of liberal order”
A contrarian view on a cherished historical narrative and the necessity of “dark bargains with illiberal forces”.
COVIDcast: Salvaging the liberal international order
Podcasts
COVIDcast: Salvaging the liberal international order
In this episode of COVIDcast, Ben Scott, Lowy Institute Director of the Rules Based Order Project, sat down with Bobo Lo to discuss Bobo’s new Lowy Institute Analysis: “Global…
Five Eyes: Blurring the lines between intelligence and policy
Five Eyes: Blurring the lines between intelligence and policy
Intelligence sharing is one thing. Aligning policy with the same brand risks making too exclusive a grouping.
Why Australia hasn't given up on a rules-based world order
Commentary
Why Australia hasn't given up on a rules-based world order
Putting 'negative globalism' talk aside, strategic shocks are forcing Canberra to think about an international system that can protect sovereignty and prevent great power conflict…
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