Samuel Bashfield is PhD scholar and senior research officer at the ANU National Security College. He is also defence researcher at the Australia India Institute and non-residential fellow at the Royal Australian Navy’s Sea Power Centre. His research interests include (modern and Cold War-era) Indo-Pacific security, defence and foreign policy, Indo-Pacific security architecture, maritime security, nuclear issues, strategic implications of the rise of China, the rules-based order and technology governance. Sam’s PhD examines the British Indian Ocean Territory’s Cold War history, focussing on Anglo-US military, diplomatic and political cooperation.

Sam completed his Master of National Security Policy degree in July 2020 and received an ANU Professional Staff Scholarship and the National Security College Award. He was visiting fellow at the Observer Research Foundation, Delhi, course coordinator in the NSC Professional Studies team, and project officer in the Strategic Partnerships and International Office at the ANU College of Asia and the Pacific. Prior to joining the ANU, Sam interned at the Jakarta Globe newspaper in Indonesia, worked at the Sydney Southeast Asia Centre at the University of Sydney, and at Australia’s Attorney General’s Department. He completed his honours degree in Indonesian Studies at Monash University and undertook an ACICIS flexible immersion program at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta. During his studies, Sam was awarded an Anne Wallace Memorial Travel Grant, as well as a Victorian Government Hamer Scholarship.