Dr Lavina Lee

Dr Lavina Lee is a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the United States Studies Centre and a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Security Studies and Criminology at Macquarie University, Sydney. She was appointed to the Council of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute from 2020 to 2023 and was previously a Director of the Institute for Regional Security. Prior to joining Macquarie University in 2007, she was a political risk consultant with Control Risks Group. 

Dr Lee is the author of the book US Hegemony and International Legitimacy: Norms Power and Followership in the Wars on Iraq (Routledge, 2010), and has published numerous articles, book chapters, research reports and commentary on maritime security and strategy in the Indo-Pacific, Indian foreign and security policy, nuclear proliferation, and the US-Australia alliance. She also periodically publishes opinion pieces in The Australian, The Australian Financial Review, The Hindustan Times, and the New Straits Times, as well as with specialist policy outlets such as the Lowy Interpreter and ASPI Strategist. 

She has led projects for the Australian government and think tanks on opportunities and weaknesses of the ‘Quad’, Chinese influence in South-East Asia, the role of democracy promotion in the Free and Open Indo-Pacific strategy and the role of India in the Indo-Pacific. Her work integrates academic and policy approaches, and she speaks widely to expert and lay audiences on international and security issues. 

Dr Lee has commerce and law degrees from the University of NSW, an MA in International Peace and Security from King’s College, the University of London (with distinction), and a PhD in International Relations from Sydney University.