Research Fellow, Foreign Policy and Defence Program, United States Studies Centre
Dr Peter K. Lee is a Research Fellow in the Foreign Policy and Defence Program at the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney. His research explores security dynamics in the Indo-Pacific, including US foreign policy, middle powers, alliance politics and regional cooperation. His recent publications cover Australia-US security relations, AUKUS, maritime security, Northeast Asian security, and defence industry.
His analysis has appeared in major news outlets such as The Australian, The Australian Financial Review, ABC News, and Korea Times as well as policy forums such as Asialink Insights, East Asia Forum, The Strategist, and War on the Rocks. His academic research has been published in the Australian Journal of International Affairs and Asia Policy. He has over a decade of experience as a research associate and editor at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies, a leading South Korean think tank.
Dr Lee is also a Korea Foundation Research Fellow at the University of Melbourne’s Asia Institute Korean Studies Research Hub. For the past year, he has been organising roundtables and conducting interviews on the people-to-people connections that underpin the Australia-Korea relationship across diverse fields, including migration, renewable energy, agriculture, food security, media and education.
Dr Lee received his PhD in strategic studies from the Australian National University, where he also taught courses on international relations and strategic studies. His thesis on “Middle Power Security Cooperation: Australia-Korea Relations in the Post-Cold War Era” was nominated for the 2021 J G Crawford prize for best ANU PhD thesis. He has a Master of International Relations and a Bachelor of Arts with First Class Honours in Political Science from the University of Melbourne.
