John Lee (political scientist)

For other people named John Lee, see John Lee (disambiguation).
John Lee Cheong Seong
Born1973 (age 50–51)
Ipoh, Malaysia
NationalityAustralian
Occupation(s)Academia and government

John Lee is an Australian academic and policy expert working on international economic and security affairs with a focus on the Indo-Pacific. Lee was a senior adviser to Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop from 2016 to 2018. He was also appointed the government's lead adviser for the 2017 Foreign Policy White Paper to guide Australian external policy for the next decade and beyond. He is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute in Washington, DC and an adjunct professor and Senior Fellow at the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney until 2022. Lee was a board member of the Institute for Regional Security (formerly Kokoda Foundation) from 2012 until August 2016.[1][2]

Early life and education

Lee was born in Ipoh, Malaysia in 1973. He migrated to Australia with his family in 1979 at the age of six years, first to Newcastle and then Sydney from 1984 onward.[3] After boarding at the Sydney GPS school, St Joseph's College, Hunters Hill and finishing his HSC in 1991, he graduated with degrees in Arts (First Class in Philosophy) and Law from the University of New South Wales and obtained his masters and doctorate in international relations from the University of Oxford whilst on an Oxford Chevening Scholarship.[4]

Career

Lee published a book, Will China fail? - the limits and contradictions of market socialism, in 2007.[5] An updated second edition was released in 2009. The subject of this book is the complexities and risks associated with China's approach to economic development, which Lee asserts to be flawed, unsustainable, dangerously unstable, and unlikely if not incapable of providing a foundation for the continuation of China's 'peaceful rise' or 'peaceful development'.[6][7] In 2014, he co-authored a report with Paul Dibb titled Why China Will Not Become The Dominant Power in Asia[8][9] The report rejects the idea that America should step back from the region and treat China as a strategic equal in Asia; that China's military, economic and demographic shortcomings are considerable; that a China-dominated Asian region is unlikely without American strategic withdrawal; and defence planning in Australia should not assume Chinese dominance as inevitable.[10] Lee has also emphasised the importance and desirability of Japanese power for a stable balance in the Indo-Pacific in the current century.[11]

Lee has written extensively on the subject of China's political-economy,[1] foreign policies of the United States, China, Japan, India, Australia and in Southeast Asia, and strategic and economic futures in East Asia.[12] Lee has published more than 300 articles in newspapers, magazines, and journals,[13][14] including the Wall Street Journal,[15] International Herald Tribune, The Australian, the New York Times, Washington Post, Financial Times, Forbes, The Times of London, The Australian Financial Review, Time, Der Spiegel, South China Morning Post, Global Times, Washington Quarterly,[16] and Newsweek.[17]

References

  1. ^ a b "Why China won't be Asia's dominant power" . CNBC. Nyshka Chandran 19 Nov 2014.
  2. ^ "Kokoda Foundation". Archived from the original on 6 January 2015. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
  3. ^ "Malaysian Dilemma: The Enduring Cancer of Affirmative Action" (PDF). Foreign Policy Analysis. The Centre for Independent Studies. 23 February 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 April 2015. Retrieved 10 January 2015.
  4. ^ "Events - The Wheeler Centre: Books, Writing, Ideas". Archived from the original on 7 January 2015. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
  5. ^ Lee, John (2007). Will China Fail?. The Centre for Independent Studies. ISBN 978-1864321807.
  6. ^ "Will China Fail?". Viet-studies.info. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 10 January 2015.
  7. ^ Sheila Melvin (22 May 2014). "A contrarian view of the economic miracle". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on 10 January 2015. Retrieved 10 January 2015.
  8. ^ Paul Dibb; John Lee (2014). "Why China Will Not Become the Dominant Power in Asia" (PDF). Security Challenges. 10 (3): 1–21. Archived (PDF) from the original on 16 February 2015. Retrieved 10 January 2015.
  9. ^ Nyshka Chandran (19 November 2014). "Why China won't be Asia's dominant power". CNBC. Archived from the original on 30 June 2015. Retrieved 10 January 2015.
  10. ^ The Australian (subscription required)
  11. ^ Lee, John (2015). "Tokyo Ascending: Abe's New Defense Strategy". World Affairs (Summer). Archived from the original on 11 July 2015.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  12. ^ "Dr John Lee". Archived from the original on 7 October 2013. Retrieved 10 October 2013.
  13. ^ G. John Ikenberry; Michael Mastanduno (13 August 2013). International Relations Theory and the Asia-Pacific. Columbia University Press. pp. 172–. ISBN 978-0-231-50092-0.
  14. ^ Larry Hanauer; Lyle J. Morris (12 March 2014). Chinese Engagement in Africa: Drivers, Reactions, and Implications for U.S. Policy. Rand Corporation. pp. 105–. ISBN 978-0-8330-8411-8.
  15. ^ Amitai Etzioni (1 January 2012). Hot Spots: American Foreign Policy in a Post-Human-Rights World. Transaction Publishers. pp. 40–. ISBN 978-1-4128-4963-0.
  16. ^ Ashley J. Tellis; Abraham M. Denmark; Travis Tanner (25 September 2013). Strategic Asia 2013-14: Asia in the Second Nuclear Age. NBR. pp. 220–. ISBN 978-1-939131-28-7.
  17. ^ Regina Abrami; William Kirby; F. Warren McFarlan (18 February 2014). Can China Lead?: Reaching the Limits of Power and Growth. Harvard Business Review Press. pp. 216–. ISBN 978-1-4221-4415-2.