Dr James Curran

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2010 Fulbright DFAT Professional Scholarship

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“Australia’s defence and foreign policy relationship with the United States continues to arouse intense debate and invite high levels of public scrutiny. Yet, surprising little attention has been paid to the way in which Australian governments of both persuasions have attempted to redefine the alliance and use it to advance Australian national interests. Even more rarely have scholars looked at the alliance from the American perspective.”

Dr James Curran, a senior lecturer in History at the University of Sydney, has been awarded the 2010 Fulbright Professional Scholarship in Australia-U.S. Alliance Studies, sponsored by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

James will spend 6 months researching the history of Australian/American relations, 1969-1983 .His research will focus on new archival documents that have been recently released in Washington.

“Much of the writing on the Australian/American relationship in recent times has drawn extensively on Australian sources. My primary purpose in undertaking research in the U.S. is to analyse the official U.S. archival record on the relationship with Australia and more generally the American approach to Asia policy in this period,” Dr Curran said.

To this end, James will visit collections at the Library of Congress and the National Archives of the United States in Washington DC, where he will consult records of the State Department, National Security Council, Department of Defense and the White House.

“I believe this project will have a special significance for how these two peoples understand the history of the relationship and their interaction in the Asia-Pacific. In Australia, the delicate task of balancing close ties with both the United States and Asia, especially China, is seen as the central foreign policy challenge today.”

“Analysis of the history behind this present predicament will extend our understanding and interpretation of Australia’s role in the region and the world, and show the continued relevance of the past to the choices that face current policy makers.”

James has a BA with honours and a PhD in history from the University of Sydney. He is the author of The Power of Speech: Australian Prime Ministers Defining the National Image (MUP, 2004) and is the co-author, with Stuart Ward, of The Unknown Nation: Remaking Australia After Empire (MUP, May 2010). Prior to joining the university, Dr Curran served as a policy officer in the Department of The Prime Minister and Cabinet and as an intelligence analyst at the Office of National Assessments. He is married to Priscilla and they have two daughters. James is a keen swimmer.