History and Vision

The GSSD program continues a long tradition of postgraduate education at the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre. In 1966 we became the first university institute for strategic studies in Australia and also in the Asia-Pacific. Since then our research and teaching has traced the major developments in Asian and global strategic affairs and in Australian strategic thinking.

We launched GSSD in 2002 as a new Masters program focused on understanding the challenges of the 21st century strategic environment. Our teaching focuses on:

• Asia’s strategic transformation as China and India rise and the United States and Japan respond
• the strategic policy options for Australia, Southeast Asian countries and other medium powers in this changing environment
• strategic responses to the instability of weak states (including in Australia’s South Pacific neighbourhood)
• global security issues such as the use of terrorism by extremist groups
• the use of force in Iraq, Afghanistan and other conflict zones
• the allocation of defence and intelligence resources in responding to these issues

We provide GSSD students with the analytical frameworks they will need to understand these issues. This requires an appreciation of the leading academic concepts on the use of force in international politics. But we also look at the way these issues are dealt with by strategic policy-makers. Since our teaching faculty includes leading academics and shapers of strategic policy, we are uniquely positioned to strike the right balance between theory and practice.

Being a GSSD student opens up a rich world of academically rigorous and policy relevant strategic analysis. As Head of the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre I invite you to join this exciting program.

Professor Hugh White, Head of Strategic and Defence Studies Centre