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.

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…

Jerusalem, the rules-based order and deal-making

Australia's interests – near and far – are best served by consistent support for an effective multilateral system.

Competing and cooperating: the paradox in US strategy

The new National Security Strategy at least acknowledges the shape of the problem even if not yet providing an answer.

Should democracies ever lie?

Is bending the truth sometimes necessary and justified in situations short of war?

Podcasts

Rules Based Audio: AUKUS – Are Australian nuclear submarines a dangerous precedent?

Commentary

What is Australia’s plan B for China?

The US may not win, and China may not be easily appeased either. We need more eggs in more baskets. Originally published in the Australian Financial Review.