Politics and International Security experts
Murdoch University’s political experts offer a wide range of knowledge on local, state, national and international politics; political and social practices; politics and the internet; citizenship, democracy and governance; environmental politics and globalisation; Australian government; and political and ideological tensions relating to nationalism.
Murdoch’s international security experts focus on terrorism in a globalised world, international security, ethnic conflict, insurgency movements and counterinsurgency operations, ethnic secession in world politics, military and non-military approaches to conflict management, international law and politics, and the United Nations.
Professor Benjamin ReillyDemocratisation, political development, electoral system design Professor Benjamin Reilly, Dean of the Sir Walter Murdoch School, is a political scientist specialising in democratisation, comparative politics and political development. He has also consulted widely on issues of political institutions, ethnic conflict management and electoral system design, a field in which he has a global reputation. Other areas that Professor Reilly can comment on include democracy in East Asia, US and Australian foreign policy, South Pacific affairs, and China's role in the Asia-Pacific. |
Professor Mark BeesonPolitics, economics and security in Asia Professor Mark Beeson’s work focuses on issues associated with regional political-economy and international relations. |
 |
Dr Feng Zhang
Chinese foreign policy and East Asian international relations He is also working on international relations in East Asian history, particularly the relationships between imperial China and its neighbours. Dr Zhang is a Lecturer in International Relations in the School of Social Sciences and Humanities and a fellow of the Asia Research Centre at Murdoch University. Prior to Murdoch he has taught at Tsinghua and Peking Universities in Beijing and the London School of Economics and the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. He has extensive academic and professional experiences in China. |
 |
Dr Yvonne Haigh
Public policy and public sector reform, affordable housing, corruption, youth Yvonne Haigh’s work focuses on the intersection between policy, politics and the public sector. Yvonne has examined policy on homelessness and affordable housing, citizenship and education policy; crime and youth policy, and currently she is examining corruption, ethics and codes of conduct within the public sector. Yvonne has published scholarly works on public policy and she has presented in a range of public sector forums.Dr Haigh is a lecturer in public policy and management in the School of Social Sciences and Humanities and the Sir Walter Murdoch School of Public Policy and International Affairs. |
 |
Dr Jeffrey WilsonInternational resource security Dr Wilson’s work focuses on international resource politics, Asia-Pacific resource security, the Australian mining industry, the iron ore and coal industries, rare earth metals, resource nationalism, Australia-China relations and multinational resource corporations.He has published widely on the political economy of resource security in the Asia-Pacific region and was awarded the inaugural Boyer Prize by the Australian Institute of International Affairs in 2012. Dr Wilson is a Fellow in Murdoch University’s Asia Research Centre and a lecturer in international politics in the School of Management and Governance. |
 |
Professor Sam Makinda
Security, terrorism and counter-terrorism Professor Samuel Makinda is the Professor of Politics and International Studies and the Chair of Security, Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism Studies at Murdoch University. He currently serves on the Australian Foreign Minister’s National Consultative Committee for International Security Issues. He is also a member of the Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia-Pacific. He has research experience in the following areas: Transnational terrorism, arms control, security in Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Africa.Professor Makinda was invited by the Kenyan Government to serve as a consultant to the biennial conference of Kenya’s ambassadors and high commissioners in Nairobi in May 2007. He also helped to establish a new Foreign Service Institute for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Nairobi. He previously worked with the Foreign Affairs Group in the Parliamentary Research Service at the Australian Federal Parliament in 1980s, where he briefed Members of House of Representatives, Senators, Ministers and Parliamentary Committees on various international security issues, including US-Soviet relations and arms control. |
 |
Dr Shahar HameiriNon-traditional security in the Asia-Pacific region Shahar Hameiri’s work has focused on non-traditional (non-military) security issues and their management in the Asia-Pacific region. In particular he has examined Australian state-building interventions in the South Pacific and Australian aid and security policies in that region. Apart from publishing scholarly work he has written often for online and print media on these issues. Dr Hameiri is an Australian Research Council Postdoctural Fellow, a fellow of Murdoch University’s Asia Research Centre and a lecturer in international politics in the School of Social Sciences and Humanities |
 |
Dr Ian CookAustralian politics, Western Australian politics, political thought in Australia, the internet and politics Dr Ian Cook specialises in providing independent and critical commentary on Australian and Western Australian politics. He has also published works examining the forms of liberalism that have been influential in Australian politics and society, including Liberalism in Australia, and on the effects of the internet on politics and society. As co-author of Government and Democracy in Australia, a textbook on Australian politics, and Keyword in Australian Politics, Dr Cook is committed to explaining the nature of Australian politics in a way which makes it accessible and interesting. |
 |
Rajat GangulyEthnic conflict, terrorism and security Dr Rajat Ganguly is Program Chair in Security, Terrorism and Counterterrorism Studies and a senior lecturer in Politics and International Studies at Murdoch University. An acknowledged expert in his field, Dr Ganguly is widely published in the areas of ethnic conflict, insurgency and terrorism; conflict, development and security; conflict management and peace building; foreign policy analysis; democracy, human rights, good governance; and South Asian politics, security and foreign policy. He is also the editor-in-chief of the Journal of South Asian Development. |
 |
Dr Jane HutchisonSocial and political change in the Philippines Dr Hutchison’s research interests include labour and urban poor movements in the Philippines, political economy of development effectiveness and transnational activism. She teaches in Murdoch’s politics and international studies and development studies programs, and is a Fellow of Murdoch's Asia Research Centre. |
 |
Dr Janice DudleyAustralian politics and government; democracy and citizenship, sustainability, and environmental politics Dr Janice Dudley is an expert on issues of democracy and citizenship, citizenship education, Australian government and politics, sustainability, and environmental politics. She teaches Australian politics and government, and environmental politics and is the coordinator of the Parliamentary and Public Sector internship program at Murdoch University. Dr Dudley was an active participant in the Schools Constitutional Convention Program since the early 1990s, and has been a final checker and independent reviewer for the WA TEE (Yr 12) Political and Legal Studies Examination Paper since 1997. |
To reach these experts for media enquiries, contact:
| Rob Payne Media & Communications Coordinator Phone: 08 9360 2491 r.payne@murdoch.edu.au |
Candice Barnes Media & Communications Coordinator Phone: 08 9360 2474 c.barnes@murdoch.edu.au |
Pepi Smyth Media & Communications Coordinator Phone: 08 9360 1289 p.smyth@murdoch.edu.au |
For all other enquiries, please ring reception on 08 9360 6000.
