Dr Stephan Frühling is Senior Lecturer in the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University. He is a member of the external expert panel on the 2015 Defence White Paper. He is a Managing Editor of the journal Security Challenges and Chief Investigator on the Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage Project Australian Nuclear Choices, and ARC Discovery Project on Small Allies' Restraint in Extended Nuclear Deterrence.

His primary areas of research and publication include Australian strategic and defence policy ballistic missile defence and nuclear weapons, and strategic theory. He was awarded a PhD from the ANU, and holds a Master of Science in Defense and Strategic Studies from Missouri State University, as well as a ‘Diplom’ in International Economics from Christian Albrechts University in Kiel, Germany.