James Cotton graduated with first class honours and was a University medal winner at Flinders University. He was a 1975-76 Procter Fellow at Princeton University, and studied at the Beijing Language Institute (1980). He has held academic positions in Western Australia, Newcastle Upon Tyne, Singapore, the Australian National University, and Tasmania (head of Politics School, 1993-1997); he is a former head of the School of Politics, University of NSW, ADFA. In 2001 he was Centennial Professor in International Relations and in the Asia Research Centre, London School of Economics, and in 2004 and 2007 he was Visiting Professor, Department of Politics and Public Administration, University of Hong Kong. He was a member of the Asia Program at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars, Washington DC, as Australian Scholar, Session 2, 2009. In 2013 he was Harold White Fellow, National Library of Australia.

BA (Flinders), MA (Durham), MScEcon PhD (London School of Economics), FRAS, FAIIA

Research Interests / Projects

• Australian foreign and security policy
• Proliferation in North Korea and its regional consequences
• Early Australian international relations
• Asian regional organizations and security

He is currently working on several projects including on the documentary record of Australian foreign relations, 1920-1936 (in collaboration with Historical Documents, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade), on the history of the international relations discipline in Australia; and on current regional relations.

Professional Activities

Between 1997 and 2003 James Cotton was a foundation member of the Foreign Minister?s Advisory Council convened by the Foreign Minister of Australia. He is a member of the Australian Institute of International Affairs, and also of the Australian Committee of the Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific (CSCAP); he is a Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society (London) and of the Australian Institute of International Affairs. Having previously served as Editor, he is on the Editorial Board of The Australian Journal of International Affairs.