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

Contact

@Ben_G_Scott

Biography

Publications

News and media

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.

Hamas's position is stronger than many think

Hamas has demonstrated surprising resilience and capability since its founding in 1987. It would be a mistake to believe it can be eliminated.

Israel-Palestine: It’s not too late for the two-state solution

But the world can’t expect Washington to make it happen.

Learning Cold War lessons of espionage anew

The ever-present threat of spies can lead to the greater danger – ourselves.

Putin is Xi’s useful idiot

In the geopolitical tussle between superpowers, Russia pays the price and China reaps the benefits.

Binary error: How and why governments need a cyber security rethink

Deterrence of hostile states in cyberspace misses the point when operations concentrate on only “offence” vs “defence”.

It’s complicated: psychology and national security decisions

Thinking about the plethora of security threats all at once is hard – which can increase the risk of bias intruding.

Analyses

Sharper choices: How Australia can make better national security decisions

In a complex and competitive national security environment, new ways of thinking on strategic decision-making are key.

Podcasts

Ali Wyne on great power competition, the United States and China

What does great power competition mean, and where did the concept come from? In this episode of Rules Based Audio, Ben Scott speaks to author and analyst Ali…