David Brewster
![David Brewster](https://www.lowyinstitute.org/sites/default/files/pictures/156296-david-brewster-2.jpg)
Dr David Brewster is with the National Security College at the Australian National University, where he specialises in South Asian and Indian Ocean strategic affairs. He is also a Distinguished Research Fellow with the Australia India Institute. His previous career was as a corporate lawyer working on complex cross-border transactions and he practiced for almost two decades in the United States, England, France and Australia.
Dr Brewster is the author of The India-Australia Security Engagement: Challenges and Opportunities, which examines security and defence cooperation between India and Australia. His books include India as an Asia Pacific power which considers India’s strategic role in the Asia Pacific, and India’s Ocean: the story of India’s bid for regional leadership which examines India’s security role and relationships in the Indian Ocean region.
![Japan’s plans to build a “Free and Open” Indian Ocean](https://www.lowyinstitute.org/sites/default/files/styles/expert_publications/public/Map-IndianOcean.jpg?itok=S34MzZz4)
![China’s play for military bases in the eastern Indian Ocean](https://www.lowyinstitute.org/sites/default/files/styles/expert_publications/public/GettyImages-951010628mini.jpg?itok=fHRKYgiW)
![The taming of the west](https://www.lowyinstitute.org/sites/default/files/styles/expert_publications/public/Brewster%202%20web-min.jpg?itok=hVeqElMW)
![A “Free and Open Indo-Pacific” and what it means for Australia](https://www.lowyinstitute.org/sites/default/files/styles/expert_publications/public/Header_3.jpg?itok=UXAw5UMt)
![Indian Ocean base race: India responds](https://www.lowyinstitute.org/sites/default/files/styles/expert_publications/public/25736205298_02ef8a70f6_omini.jpg?itok=1F_fVZEh)
![Base race in the Horn of Africa](https://www.lowyinstitute.org/sites/default/files/styles/expert_publications/public/16674442969_7792b59070_kmini.jpg?itok=RKV_kNvh)
![China’s new network of Indian Ocean bases](https://www.lowyinstitute.org/sites/default/files/styles/expert_publications/public/Gwadar_Port_from_the_top-min.jpg?itok=JsCt4yi-)
![Doklam stand-off may spark Indian Ocean tensions](https://www.lowyinstitute.org/sites/default/files/styles/expert_publications/public/india-flag.jpg?itok=JZtrLPUI)
![The Kra Canal: Double bypass](https://www.lowyinstitute.org/sites/default/files/styles/expert_publications/public/Singapore_port_crop.jpg?itok=EKh7KB3X)