David M. Andrews is a Fellow with ASPI’s Defence Strategy Program, and principal of Haliastur Research & Advisory.

David’s research is focused on alliances and institutions of defence cooperation, such as ANZUS, the Quad, AUKUS, the Five Power Defence Arrangements, and the Southeast Asia Treaty Organisation; Australian defence and foreign policy; the strategies of small and middle powers; and the politics of national security decision-making.

David is a trusted and well-established public analyst in Australian and international media, with commentary having been carried by ABC News, SBS News, the Australian Financial Review, the Canberra Times, BBC News, Nikkei Asia, the South China Morning Post, Anadolu Ajansı, Al Jazeera, and Monocle Radio, alongside analyses with ASPI, the Lowy Institute, Australian Institute of International Affairs, ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, The Conversation, and in the Australian Naval Review.

Before commencing as an NSC Expert Associate, David previously worked at NSC from 2022-2026 as Senior Policy Advisor, then Director of Policy, and as the Executive Producer and regular host of The National Security Podcast. He earlier served from 2013-2018 in the Australian Department of Defence in military strategy, strategic policy, and export control roles, before moving to Jordan and Kuwait from 2018-2022.

David holds a Master of Arts (Strategic Studies) with Honours from ANU, the thesis of which examined the Australian Labor Party’s approach to alliance management in the context of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. He previously completed a Master of Arts (Ancient History) from Macquarie University, and a Bachelor of Social Science (Politics and International Relations) with Honours at UNSW Sydney.