Hugh White, emeritus professor of strategic studies at Australian National University, will be the next guest speaker at Cal State San Bernardino’s Modern China Lecture Series, set for 2:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 26.

The presentation, free and open to the public, will take place in person at the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, room SB-210, and on Zoom at https://csusb.zoom.us/j/388207496.

White’s research and expertise focuses primarily on Australian strategic and defense policy, Asia-Pacific security issues, and global strategic affairs, especially as they influence Australia and the Asia-Pacific.

He brings a wealth of experience to the table, having fulfilled various roles, including serving as an intelligence analyst at Australia’s Office of National Assessments, working as a journalist at the Sydney Morning Herald, acting as a senior adviser to Australian Defense Minister Kim Beazley and Prime Minister Bob Hawke, and holding senior positions within Australia’s Department of Defense. White also served as the deputy secretary for strategy and intelligence from 1995 to 2000, as well as the inaugural director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI).

In June 2022, he wrote an article, “Sleepwalk to War: Australia’s Unthinking Alliance with America,” for the Quarterly Essay in which he discussed U.S.-Australia relations that center on “Australia’s fateful choice to back America to the hilt and oppose China.”

The Modern China Lecture Series was initiated to promote awareness of important issues related to China for those on the CSUSB campus and in the community.

In the series of more than 100 lectures, workshops, film screenings and roundtable forums since January 2014, China scholars from UC San Diego, UC Riverside, the Claremont Colleges, UCLA, USC, UC Irvine, Columbia, Oxford and other institutions have visited the CSUSB campus to share their expertise and opinions.

Speakers in the series have included specialists in history, economics, political science, philosophy, finance, security studies, literature, anthropology and other fields. Recordings of past talks can be found at the CSUSB Modern China Lecture Series channel on YouTube.

Upcoming speakers in the series include:

The series cosponsors this year are the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences and the Intellectual Life Fund. Series organizers are Jeremy Murray, professor of history, and Alexander Serrano, a UC Santa Barbara doctoral candidate.

For more information on the Modern China Lecture Series, contact Murray at jmurray@csusb.edu.