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James Curran

James Curran is Professor of Modern History at Sydney University and foreign affairs columnist at the Australian Financial Review, where he was also International Editor from 2023-25. His most recent book is Australia’s China Odyssey: From Euphoria to Fear, published by Newsouth (2022). A former analyst with the Office of National Assessments, Curran is the author of a number of books on Australian diplomatic history and is now working on a study of former prime minister Paul Keating’s foreign policy. He was previously a Nonresident Fellow at the Lowy Institute.

Articles by James Curran (22)

James Curran 29 Aug 2025

Marles’ dash to Washington as Australia’s old anxieties resurface in the Trump era

Perpetual worry about US access says more about Australian insecurity than American indifference to allies.
James Curran 27 Jul 2022

Australia-China relations: Understanding how we arrived at this point

History is too often reduced to a cartoonish view, but a proper perspective is crucial to chart the next challenges.
James Curran 3 Nov 2020

Taking China seriously: A review of Geoff Raby’s “grand strategy”

Jumping at shadows is no basis for Australian foreign policy. Common sense must prevail.
James Curran 29 Aug 2018

Julie Bishop: buffeted by headwinds

Bishop struggled at times to find the right tone in response to an inward-looking America and a muscular China.
James Curran 25 Apr 2018

Harry Harris and the ambassadorial absence

Alliance sentimentalists are wrong to judge the entire heath of the US–Australia relationship through one diplomatic appointment.
James Curran 27 Nov 2017

Foreign Policy White Paper sees a new Asia but pleads for the old

This White Paper is, as it ought to be, full of tension between history and geography.
James Curran 11 Aug 2017

Rhetorical arthritis won’t sell an Australian republic

It is one thing to recognise the realities of current sensibilities; quite another to let them mask the more substantial arguments required to win a greater measure of popular support than in 1999.
James Curran 7 Aug 2017

The Trump/Turnbull transcript: The PM’s parting gift

It is one thing to be a valued and trusted ally; another matter entirely to be taken for granted.
James Curran 6 Jun 2017

When will Australia acknowledge a changed America?

There is a whiff of blind faith being employed by some Australian ministers in their responses to these kinds of American sentiments.