Daniel Flitton

Managing Editor, The Interpreter
Areas of expertise

Australian foreign policy and politics; Australia’s intelligence services; international relations in Asia

Daniel Flitton
Biography
Publications

Daniel Flitton is one of Australia’s most experienced foreign affairs journalists and is now Managing Editor of the Lowy Institute’s international magazine, The Interpreter.

Before joining the Institute, he was diplomatic editor and senior correspondent at The Age in Melbourne and was posted as a political correspondent in the parliament house bureau in Canberra. Daniel previously worked as an analyst for the Office of National Assessments, Australia’s peak intelligence assessment agency. He has held academic positions at the Australian National University and at Deakin University, where he developed a breadth of knowledge on Asia, the Middle East, and the Pacific. As a Fulbright scholar in 2004, he researched the Australia–United States alliance at Georgetown University in Washington DC.

Australia in the Gulf: The order-based rules
Australia in the Gulf: The order-based rules
Scott Morrison backed the Iran nuclear deal to reinforce “the rules-based international system”, only to be Trumped.
The embattled envoy and the need for frank assessment
The embattled envoy and the need for frank assessment
Britain’s Kim Darroch was caught in a whirlwind because he did his job.
Iran: Australia’s deliberate ambiguity
Iran: Australia’s deliberate ambiguity
Even without direct conflict, Washington’s tensions with Tehran pose an awkward alliance challenge for Canberra.
Oman: credibility gulf will test White House
Oman: credibility gulf will test White House
The US was quick to blame Iran for the oil tankers stricken in the Oman Gulf, yet will Donald Trump convince the world?
Australia’s presidential politics
Australia’s presidential politics
By focusing on himself, Scott Morrison also made the election a leadership choice, putting Bill Shorten in a spotlight.
What the world thinks is at stake in Australia’s election campaign
What the world thinks is at stake in Australia’s election campaign
Four overseas views from near neighbours to distant friends on whether Australia’s contest much matters.
Julian Assange’s case is special, and no point pretending otherwise
Julian Assange’s case is special, and no point pretending otherwise
Assange’s case, difficult as it is, unpleasant a character as he can appear, is still a test of Australian principles.
The Mueller illusion
The Mueller illusion
What the long investigation has really exposed is more of the same old politics at play.
Australia-Turkey: Erdogan’s bitter legacy in present-day history
Australia-Turkey: Erdogan’s bitter legacy in present-day history
The intemperate outburst over Christchurch is more a product of Erdogan’s increasingly authoritarian rule.
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