The United States Studies Centre has announced Bryden Spurling as the 2019 Alliance 21 Fellow. During his fellowship, Bryden will be based in Washington, DC at the Center for a New American Security where he will research options for Australia and the United States to strengthen their capacities to think and act strategically.

Bryden was most recently Acting Assistant Secretary for Strategic Policy in the Australian Department of Defence, having spent 10 years in defence strategy and policy. His experience includes developing Australia’s Defence White Paper and its classified equivalent, the Defence Planning Guidance.

Prior to this, Bryden worked across a range of roles in policy and politics, including as the science, higher education and foreign policy advisor to Australian Senator Natasha Stott Despoja, and as a policy adviser to Australia’s Chief Scientist.

Director of the USSC's Foreign Policy and Defence Program, Ashley Townshend, said Bryden’s experience in strategic planning at the Australian Department of Defence will add insight to the Centre’s research on Australia-US relations and Indo-Pacific strategy.

“Bryden will be researching new avenues for Australia-US cooperation, exploring ways they can improve their ability to think and act strategically in developing complementary Indo-Pacific strategies.”

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Drew Sheldrick
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