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.

How open should Australia be about the China challenge?
How open should Australia be about the China challenge?
Andrew Robb wants Australian officials to say more about China’s alleged behaviour.
Hanoi summit: Trump walks but time is on Kim Jong Un's side
Commentary
Hanoi summit: Trump walks but time is on Kim Jong Un's side
Originally published in Australian Financial ReviewSam Roggeveen
What is the F-35 for, exactly?
What is the F-35 for, exactly?
Australia’s first two new stealth fighters have taken to local skies. Now what?
Brexit warning for Australia: Voter immigration concerns an easy fringe target
Commentary
Brexit warning for Australia: Voter immigration concerns an easy fringe target
Originally published in Australian Financial Review Sam Roggeveen
Book Review: the Clinton fiction
Book Review: the Clinton fiction
Clinton’s book has nothing new to say about politics but it may offer some insight into his assessment of the world.
Was Jim Mattis really the “last adult in the room”?
Was Jim Mattis really the “last adult in the room”?
Mattis said Trump deserves a defense secretary “whose views are better aligned with yours”. Does such a person exist?
What I missed this year: America pushes back
What I missed this year: America pushes back
There has been a clear shift in US thinking regarding China's long term trajectory.
Beware of joining US in a cold war it can’t win
Commentary
Beware of joining US in a cold war it can’t win
Published in The Australian on 21 November 2018. Sam Roggeveen
Combat drones: Australia’s uncertain future
Combat drones: Australia’s uncertain future
When it comes to stealthy combat drones, momentum is with China right now. That’s a problem for Australia.
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