Milton Osborne

Milton Osborne
Biography
Publications

Dr Milton Osborne was a Nonresident Fellow at the Lowy Institute for International Policy. He has been associated with Southeast Asia for more than 60 years since being posted to the Australian Embassy in Phnom Penh in 1959. A graduate of Sydney and Cornell Universities (University Medallist and Fulbright Scholar, respectively), he has held academic positions in Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States and Singapore.

In 1980 and 1981 he was a consultant to the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees in relation to the Cambodian refugee problem, working along the Thai-Cambodian border. In 1982 he returned to government service as Head of the Asia Branch of the Office of National Assessments, also serving for a year as Head of Current Intelligence. Since 1993 he has been an independent writer and consultant on Asian issues, based in Sydney, and has been an Adjunct Professor and Visiting Fellow in the Faculty of Asian Studies at the Australian National University, Canberra.

He is the author of 11 books and many articles on Asian subjects including: Southeast Asia: An Introductory History, now in its 12th edition; River Road to China: The Search for the Source of the Mekong (A New York Times ‘notable book’); The Mekong: Turbulent Past, Uncertain Future; and most recently Pol Pot solved the Leprosy Problem. In 2014 he was honoured by the French government, appointed as Commandeur in the Ordre National du Mérite, for his past work with French officials and his contribution to the study of France’s role in Asia. In 2021, he was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia.

Hun Sen prepares for next year’s national elections
Hun Sen prepares for next year’s national elections
Hun Sen is preparing for next year’s elections, which means that he's determined to undermine, denigrate, and punish all those he sees as political enemies.
A dam at Sambor: Another Mekong domino teeters
A dam at Sambor: Another Mekong domino teeters
Four inhabited islands would have be submerged were the dam to go ahead, displacing 19,000 people.
The strategic nous of H R McMaster
The strategic nous of H R McMaster
Is McMaster a man who knows how to deal with top US military leaders simply because he had exposed their weaknesses in his book?
Book review: Laos, the war that shaped the CIA
Book review: Laos, the war that shaped the CIA
Communist forces defeated the US-backed side in Laos but somehow left the CIA convinced it had mastered war.
Laos: Playing to win in Mekong hydropower game
Laos: Playing to win in Mekong hydropower game
Laos' 'success' on the Mekong could prove deeply costly for the people of Cambodia and Vietnam.
Cambodia: Would Hun Sen's CPP accept electoral defeat?
Cambodia: Would Hun Sen's CPP accept electoral defeat?
Even those who previously supported the government are tiring of the CPP.
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