About

David M. Andrews

I am an international security, defence, and foreign policy expert with more than 13 years’ experience across the government, university, and research sectors, currently working at the intersection of policy and academia in Jakarta, Indonesia.

More specifically, my research focuses on alliances and institutions of security cooperation, such as ANZUS, the Quad, AUKUS, the Five Power Defence Arrangements, as well as the politics of national security decision-making.

I recently concluded three-and-a-half years working at the ANU National Security College, where I held roles as a Senior Policy Advisor and latterly as Senior Manager for Policy Outreach and Engagement (Director of Policy). In that capacity, I was also the Executive Producer and regular host of The National Security Podcast and have been regularly engaged by Australian and international media for expert commentary and analysis. I maintain an ongoing affiliation with NSC as an Expert Associate (Adjunct Fellow).

Though I ultimately withdrew from the program, I previously spent several years pursuing a PhD in Politics and International Relations at La Trobe University, which examined the factors which contribute to the durability and effectiveness of alliances and multilateral security organisations. My thesis particularly focused on the Central Treaty Organisation, Southeast Asia Treaty Organisation, Anglo-Malaysian Defence Agreement, and Five Power Defence Arrangements as case studies of under-examined security frameworks.

I also spent five-and-a-half years working for the Australian Department of Defence in Canberra, principally in strategic policy roles. During that time I completed a Master of Arts (Strategic Studies) with Honours at the ANU Strategic and Defence Studies Centre before making the move to Amman, Jordan in 2018. I lived in Jordan for ten months before spending the next three years in Kuwait City, Kuwait and returning to Canberra in mid-2022 to commence my role at the National Security College.

I earlier obtained my Bachelor of Social Science (Politics and International Relations) with Honours at UNSW Sydney, then a Master of Arts (Ancient History) from Macquarie University, focused on the late antiquity period in the Eastern Roman Empire.

In my spare time, I’m a keen sports fan, a budding gardener (pun very much intended), an extremely amateur numismatist, and a tabletop wargaming enthusiast with a customarily large pile of unpainted models.