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.

Address by the US National Cyber Director on cyber cooperation
Speeches
Address by the US National Cyber Director on cyber cooperation
US National Cyber Director Chris Inglis addressed the Lowy Institute on the role of cyber in US strategy and the outlook for international cyber cooperation to…
Australian cyber: What’s “Redspice” for?
Australian cyber: What’s “Redspice” for?
Canberra should explain why Australia needs a larger offensive cyber capability and how it will be used.
Rules Based Audio: Ukraine and the future of the rules based order
Podcasts
Rules Based Audio: Ukraine and the future of the rules based order
In this episode of Rules Based Audio, Ben Scott discusses the war in Ukraine and international law with Professor Fleur Johns and Dr Eve Massingham.
We need to stop talking about the grey zone
We need to stop talking about the grey zone
And instead learn more about the many measures short of war.
Exploit Xi and Putin mutual distrust to limit China-Russia partnership
Commentary
Exploit Xi and Putin mutual distrust to limit China-Russia partnership
Originally published in The Australian.
Australia and the crisis in Europe: threats and opportunities
Australia and the crisis in Europe: threats and opportunities
A global contest of values and interests – and sharply divergent visions of order - is now dramatically intensified.
Australian intelligence should not be used for political goals. The US is still recovering from Trump doing just that
Commentary
Australian intelligence should not be used for political goals. The US is still recovering from Trump doing just that
The political consensus on China is a dead end. Australia should harness political debate to produce smarter policies. Originally published in The Guardian.
Getting ready for Trump as President 47
Getting ready for Trump as President 47
In order to adjust to an unpredictable United States, Canberra needs new habits.
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