Sam Roggeveen

Director, International Security Program
Areas of expertise

Australian foreign and defence policy, China’s military forces, US defence and foreign policy, drones and other military technology. Also, trends in global democracy.

Sam Roggeveen
Biography
Publications
News and media

Sam Roggeveen is Director of the Lowy Institute’s International Security Program. He is the author of The Echidna Strategy: Australia's Search for Power and Peace, published by La Trobe University Press in 2023.

Before joining the Lowy Institute, Sam was a senior strategic analyst in Australia’s peak intelligence agency, the Office of National Assessments, where his work dealt mainly with North Asian strategic affairs, including nuclear strategy and Asian military forces. Sam also worked on arms control policy in Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs, and as an analyst in the Defence Intelligence Organisation.

Sam has a long-standing interest in politics and political philosophy, and in 2019 he wrote Our Very Own Brexit: Australia's Hollow Politics and Where it Could Lead Us, about the hollowing out of Western democracy and its implications for Australia. 

Sam writes for newspapers and magazines in Australia and around the world, and is a regular commentator on the Lowy Institute’s digital magazine, The Interpreter, of which he was the founding editor from 2007 to 2014.

Sam also serves as lead editor at the Lowy Institute, and editor of the Lowy Institute Papers.

An ounce of prevention: Nauru deal puts defence spending in a different light
An ounce of prevention: Nauru deal puts defence spending in a different light
Australia’s Nauru deal is a victory for preventive diplomacy, closing off any possibility of a Chinese security presence.
A wonky memento and a China metaphor
A wonky memento and a China metaphor
A scale model kit offers an insight into Chinese manufacturing.
Russia escalates, strikes Ukraine with a new missile, warns West
Russia escalates, strikes Ukraine with a new missile, warns West
Putin wants to target Europe’s commitment to support Ukraine.
The Trumpist turn in US foreign policy
The Trumpist turn in US foreign policy
Trump's instinct for restraint could have a long future in both American political parties.
Costs vs benefits in Pat Conroy's new missile age
Costs vs benefits in Pat Conroy's new missile age
Missiles are expensive, and the further they need to travel, the dearer they get. That should be good news for Australia.
Kamala Harris and national security: The rising cost of military leadership
Kamala Harris and national security: The rising cost of military leadership
A Harris administration is unlikely to reverse America’s eroding military advantage over China.
Harris 1.0
Data Snapshot
Harris 1.0
What Kamala Harris’ election would mean for Australia and the world
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