Susannah Patton is Deputy Research Director at the Lowy Institute. She is also the Director of the Institute’s Southeast Asia Program and responsible for the Asia Power Index, the Institute’s annual data-driven assessment that maps the changing distribution of power in the region. Susannah joined the Institute in 2022 and her research has focused on geopolitical trends in Southeast Asia and Australian foreign policy.

Susannah frequently contributes commentary to Australian and international media outlets, and her writing has been published in leading outlets including The New York Times, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy and the Australian Financial Review. She is a regular contributor to the Lowy Institute’s international magazine, The Interpreter.

Before joining the Lowy Institute, Susannah was a Research Fellow in the Foreign Policy and Defence Program at the United States Studies Centre. Between 2010 and 2020, she worked in various Southeast Asia-focused positions in the Australian government, including as a Senior Analyst in the Southeast Asia Branch at the Office of National Intelligence, in the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit Taskforce in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, and as a diplomat in the Australian Embassy in Bangkok. Susannah speaks Thai and holds degrees in law and political science from the Australian National University.