Dr. Carl Ungerer is a recognised expert in foreign policy and national security with over 25 years’ experience as both a practitioner and academic in international affairs.
Carl consults regularly to governments, corporations and international organisations around the world. He has been an adviser to the U.S. State Department on police and intelligence cooperation in Southeast Asia; a Program Mentor for the Australian Institute of Police Management; and an adviser to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. He has designed and led multinational and multidisciplinary research teams in Southeast Asia on counter-terrorism, countering online violent extremism and cyber-security.
Between 2012-13, he was the Senior Adviser to the Australian Foreign Minister, with responsibility for all aspects of international policy including responses to crises in the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific. Most recently, he was the Head of the Leadership, Crisis and Conflict Management Program at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy in Switzerland.
His previous appointments include: inaugural Director of the National Security Program at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute; a senior Strategic Analyst at Australia’s peak intelligence assessment agency, the Office of National Assessments; and a career diplomat with the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
In 2001 Carl was awarded the Australian Intelligence Community medallion for his contribution to intelligence analysis and reporting at the Office of National Assessments. And in 2003, he was awarded a position on the U.S. State Department’s prestigious International Visitor Program.
Carl has published widely on foreign policy and national security issues, including edited books on The Politics of Nuclear Non-Proliferation (2001) and Australian Foreign Policy in the Age of Terror (2008). His research focuses on the intersection of foreign policy, national security and emerging transnational threats. He is a regular commentator in the Australian and international media.
He holds a PhD in International Relations from the University of Queensland, an MA in Asian Studies from Griffith University and post-graduate diplomas in both education and foreign affairs and trade.
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) 2003, University of Queensland
Post-Graduate Diploma in Foreign Affairs and Trade 1995, Australian National University
Master of Arts (Asian and International Studies) 1992, Griffith University
Intermediate Japanese Language Certificate 1988, Showa International University, Tokyo
Post-Graduate Diploma of Teaching 1987, Brisbane College of Advanced Education (Griffith University)
Bachelor of Arts (History and Government) 1986, University of Queensland
Senior Certificate 1983, Brisbane Grammar School
Australian Intelligence Community Medallion
Awarded Republic of China (Taiwan) Short-term Visiting Grant 2005
Awarded U.S. Department of State International Visitor Program 2003
Awarded Israeli Foreign Ministry, Young Political Leaders’ Tour of Israel
Head of the Leadership, Crisis and Conflict Management Programme – 2014-18
Geneva Centre for Security Policy, Switzerland
- Senior Management Team
- Director of research, dialogue and executive education
- Lead on global fundraising activities
Associate Professor in International Relations – 2014
Faculty of Society and Design
Bond University
- Subject coordinator for two undergraduate courses: INTR11-100 Introduction to
- International Relations; INTR11-101 Introduction to Geopolitics.
- Honorary Senior Research Fellow
Senior Adviser – Office of the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator Bob Carr – 2012-13
Parliament House
Canberra
- Foreign policy advice across all portfolio areas (foreign, trade, security, intelligence)
- Coordinate Minister’s office on issues such as the UN, South China Sea, alliance relations, human rights, nuclear proliferation
- Speechwriter
- Senior Caucus and Cabinet liaison
Director – National Security Programme – 2008-12
Australian Strategic Policy Institute
- Plan, lead and manage the research program on national security
- Coordinate written policy advice to government on conceptual, institutional and operational matters relating to national security policy
- Board member, Council on Asian Transnational Threat Research
Lecturer (International Relations) – 2004-08
School of Political Science and International Relations
University of Queensland
- Course coordinator for several large undergraduate courses: POLS2201
- Australian Foreign Policy; POLS2206 Asia-Pacific Security; POLS2207 Terrorism and Insurgency in World Politics; POLS2205 International Relations of North Asia
- Course coordinator for post-graduate courses POLS7225 Foreign Policy,
- Diplomacy and Statecraft; POLS7506 Arms Control and Disarmament
- Director – School Internationalisation Program. Represented the School at education forums in Asia. Negotiated with Asian governments on post-graduate training programs.
- Supervised 4 Ph.D. students and 6 Research Masters students
Foreign Affairs and National Security Adviser – 2002-04
Office of the Leader of the Opposition, Hon. Simon Crean MP
- Policy coordination and direction across several major portfolio areas including foreign, defence, homeland security and trade
- Secretary to the National Security Committee of Shadow Cabinet
- Directed the Opposition’s Bali Task Force
Senior Intelligence Analyst – 1999-02
Strategic Branch
Office of National Assessments
- High-level intelligence analysis and advice to the Prime Minister and senior
- Cabinet Ministers on emerging global security threats such as WMD proliferation and terrorism
- Represented Australia at international conferences in the U.K., France and the U.S.
- Co-ordinated inter-agency briefings and joint reporting (with DIO)
Policy Officer and Diplomat – 1993-99
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
- Policy officer with wide ranging experience in the Southeast Asia, North Asia and
- International Organisations Divisions
- Third Secretary, Australian Delegation to the United Nations’ Commission on Human Rights (Geneva)
- Second Secretary (Political), Australian Embassy, Fiji
Teacher – 1989-91
Japan International School, Tokyo
- Global Handbook on Terrorism and Insurgency, ed. (forthcoming, under contract with Edward Elgar).
- Beyond bin Laden: Future trends in terrorism, ASPI Strategy Paper, December 2011.
- A Natural Power: challenges for Australia’s resources diplomacy in Asia, ASPI Strategy Paper, June 2010, with Richard Leaver.
- Neighbourhood Watch: The Evolving Terrorist Threat in Southeast Asia, ASPI Strategy Paper, June 2008, with Peter Chalk.
- Australian Foreign Policy in the Age of Terror, edited (Sydney: University of New South Wales Press, 2008).
- The Politics of Nuclear Non-Proliferation edited with M. Hanson, (Sydney: Allen and Unwin for the Australian National University, 2001).
- *’Introduction: Australian Foreign Policy after 9/11’, in Carl Ungerer, ed., Australian Foreign Policy in an Age of Terror (Sydney: UNSW Press, 2008).
- *‘Australia’s Place in the International System: Middle Power, Pivotal Power or Dependent Power’, in Carl Ungerer, ed., Australian Foreign Policy in an Age of Terror (Sydney: UNSW Press, 2008).
- * ‘Change and Continuity in the Australian Intelligence Community’, in Carl Ungerer, ed., Australian Foreign Policy in an Age of Terror (Sydney: UNSW Press, 2008), with David Martin Jones.
- * ‘Diplomatic Potholes and Pathways: Future Directions in Australian Foreign Policy’, in Carl Ungerer, ed., Australian Foreign Policy in an Age of Terror (Sydney: UNSW Press, 2008).
- *’Australia’, in Stuart Farson, Peter Gill, Mark Phythian and Shlomo Shpiro eds., PSI Handbook of Global Security and Intelligence: National Approaches Vol. 1 (Praeger Security International, Westport, 2008) with David M. Jones.
- *’Introduction’ and ‘Conclusion’ in Carl Ungerer and Marianne Hanson, eds., The Politics of Nuclear Non-Proliferation (Sydney: Allen and Unwin, 2001), with Marianne Hanson.
- *’The 2000 NPT Review Conference: A Normative Advance”, in Carl Ungerer and Marianne Hanson, eds., The Politics of Nuclear Non-Proliferation (Sydney: Allen and Unwin, 2001), with Marianne Hanson.
- *“The Force of Ideas: Middle Power Diplomacy and the New Agenda for Nuclear Disarmament”, in Carl Ungerer and Marianne Hanson, eds., The Politics of Nuclear Non-Proliferation (Sydney: Allen and Unwin, 2001).
- *“Approaching human security as ‘middle powers’: Australian and Canadian arms control diplomacy after the Cold War”, in William T. Tow, Ramesh Thakur and In-Taek Hyun, eds. Asia’s Emerging Regional Order: Reconciling Traditional and Human Security (Tokyo: United Nations University Press, 2000).
- A review of Arnold M. Howitt and Robyn L. Pangi, eds., Countering Terrorism: Dimensions of Preparedness, (Cambridge Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 2003), Australian Journal of International Affairs, vol. 61 no. 2 (June 2007), pp. 284-86.
- ‘Winding back the clock of doom’, Australian Literary Review, 1 October 2008,
- ‘When Big Brother is just a state of mind’, Australian Literary Review, vol. 2 no. 1 February 2007 (with David Martin Jones).
- ‘Portrait of an enduring alliance’, a review of Greg Sheridan’s The Partnership (Sydney: University of New South Wales Press, 2006), Australian Literary Review vol. 1 no. 2 (October 2006), pp. 17-18.
- ‘The War of Ideas: A Review of Paul Berman’s Terror and Liberalism and Paul Gray’s Nightmare of the Prophet’, The Review, vol. 30 no. 3 (March 2005), p. 25.
- A Review of Mark McGillivray and Gary Smith, eds., Australia and Asia (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1997), Australian Journal of International Affairs, vol. 52 no. 1 (April 1998), pp. 98-100.
- *‘The Middle Power Concept in Australian Foreign Policy’, Australian Journal of Politics and History, vol. 53 no. 4 (November 2007), pp. 538-551.
- *‘Influence without Power: Middle Powers and Arms Control Diplomacy during the Cold War’, Diplomacy and Statecraft, vol. 18 no. 2 (June 2007), pp. 393-414.
- ‘Issues in Australian Foreign Policy: July-December 2006’, Australian Journal of Politics and History, vol. 53 no. 2 (June 2007), pp. 267-280.
- ‘Australia’s Policy Responses to Terrorism in Southeast Asia’, Global Change, Peace and Security, vol. 18 no. 3 (October 2006), pp. 193-199.
- ‘The Agroterror Threat’, Australasian Science, vol. 27 no. 4 (May 2006), pp. 27-30.
- *‘The Threat of Agroterrorism to Australia: A Preliminary Assessment’, Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, vol. 29 no. 2 (February 2006), pp. 159-175, with D. Rogers.
- ‘Issues in Australian Foreign Policy’, Australian Journal of Politics and History, vol. 50 no. 4 (December 2004), pp. 573-587.
- ‘Comment on Ulf Sundhaussen’s ‘Terror and America’’, Social Alternatives, vol. 23 no. 2 (2004).
- *‘The Canberra Commission: Paths Followed, Paths Ahead’, Australian Journal of International Affairs, vol. 53 no. 1 (April 1999), pp. 5-18, with Marianne Hanson.
- *‘Following the Leader: The Canberra Commission and the Renewed Case for Eliminating Nuclear Weapons’, Disarmament Diplomacy, Issue No. 33 (December 1998), pp. 17-20.
- *‘Promoting an Agenda for Nuclear Weapons Elimination: The Canberra Commission and the Dilemmas of Disarmament’, Australian Journal of Politics and History vol. 44 no. 4 (December 1998), pp. 533-551, with Marianne Hanson.
- ‘Australia and the World’, Australian Journal of International Affairs vol. 51 no. 2 (1997), pp. 255-261.
*Refereed
- ‘The Leadership Challenge in UN peace operations’, presentation to the annual Challenges Forum meeting, New York, 20 May 2016.
- ‘CBRN Terrorism: Reassessing the threat’, presentation to the Africa Security Forum, Marrakech, 5 February 2015.
- ‘Cybersecurity: Challenges for East Asia’, presentation to the 4th East Asia Security Outlook Conference, Brunei Darusalem, 2 February 2012.
- ‘Jihadis in Jail: radicalisation and de-radicalisation programs in Southeast Asia’, presentation to the Center for Peace and Security Studies, Georgetown University, Washington DC, October 2011.
- ‘Indonesia and the future of Jemaah Islamiyah’, presentation to the School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University, Washington DC, October 2011.
- ‘Radicalisation inside Indonesia’s prisons’, presentation to a closed FCO workshop, Wilton Park, London, July 2011.
- ‘The International Drivers of Australia’s National Security’, speech to the Security in Government Conference, Canberra, 18 September 2008.
- ‘Trends in International and Domestic Terrorism’, presentation to the Safeguarding Australia conference, Canberra, 3-4 October 2007.
- ‘CBRN Terrorism: Uncovering Past Methods and Activities’, presentation to the Scientific and Technical Intelligence Group Meeting, ASIO, Melbourne, 15 May 2007.
- ‘The 15 years Crisis: Studying International Relations after the Cold War’, presentation to the GAI Seminar Series, Griffith University, Brisbane, 29 March 2007.
- ‘Democracy and Security in Asia: An Australian Perspective’, paper presented to the Asia Pacific League for Freedom and Democracy, Taipei, Taiwan, 10-12 December 2006.
- ‘A Nuclear North Korea: Implications for Australia’s Arms Control Diplomacy’, paper presented to the Workshop on North Korea and Asian Security, Flinders University, 6 December 2006.
- ‘The Role of Intelligence in the War on Terrorism’, paper presented to the 2006 Fulbright Symposium, University of Tasmania, Hobart, 28-29 June 2006.
- ‘The East Asian Strategic Environment and Middle Power Responses since ‘September 11’”, conference paper presented to the Second Oceanic Conference on International Studies, University of Melbourne, 5-7 July 2006.
- “Australia’s Policy Responses to Terrorism in Southeast Asia”, paper presented at the Asia-Pacific Centre for Security Studies Conference on ‘Countering the Support Environment for Terrorism in Southeast Asia’, 31 January-2 February 2006, Honolulu, Hawaii.
- “The Role of Intelligence in Homeland Security”, paper presented to the 2004 Fulbright Conference on Civil-Military Cooperation and the War on Terror, Brisbane, 5-7 July 2004.
- “The Role of Middle Powers in East Asian Security: Australia-Korea Security Cooperation after the Economic Crisis’, (with Russell Trood) paper presented to the Conference on Australia and Korea into the New Millennium: Political, Economic and Business Relations, Griffith University, 5-6 August 1999.
- ‘The Case for an Australian National Security Strategy’, ASPI Policy Analysis, July 2011.
- ‘Jihadists in Jail: Radicalisation and the Indonesian Prison Experience’, ASPI Special Report, May 2011.
- ‘Making Mischief: the return of the South China Sea Dispute’, ASPI Special Report, December 2010 (with I. Storey and S. Bateman).
- ‘Australia and South Korea: middle power cooperation and Asian security’, ASPI Strategic Insights No. 50, October 2010.
- ‘Australia’s national security institutions: reform and renewal’, ASPI Special Report 34, September 2010.
- ‘Measuring up: evaluating cohesion in the national security community’, ASPI Policy Analysis, June 2010.
- ‘Countering Internet Radicalisation in Southeast Asia’, Special Report Issue 22 (with RSIS) March 2009.
- ‘The devil in the detail: Australia’s first national security statement’, ASPI Policy Analysis, December 2008 (with A. Bergin).
- ‘Risky Business: Measuring the costs and benefits of counter-terrorism spending’, Special Report, November 2008
- ‘A New Agenda for National Security’, Special Report Issue 15, April 2008.
- ‘Proliferation Central: Syria’s nuclear, biological and chemical weapons’, ASPI Policy Analysis, April 2008.
- ‘The War on Terror after Iraq’, Report of an Independent Task Force, ASPI Special Report Issue 11, (December 2007) with Rod Lyon, Adam Dolnik, Greg Fealy, Nick O’Brien, Leanne Piggott and Michael Wesley.
- ‘Beyond Belief: Islamism, Radicalisation and the Counter-terrorism response’, ASPI Strategic Insights No. 37, (September 2007) with Anthony Bergin and David Martin Jones.
- ‘The Road to a Nuclear North Korea’, ASPI Strategic Insights No. 32 (October 2006) with James Cotton and Stuart Harris.
- ‘It’s crucial to heed Interpol’s advice on passport checks’, The Australian, 15 March, 2014.
- ‘Mutual deterrence strategy a reality in cyberspace cold war’, The Australian, 22 February, 2014.
- ‘Is the US-Australia “anchor of peace” immune from rust?’, The Guardian, 14 February, 2014.
- ‘Baptism by fire in foreign affairs’, The Australian, 2 February 2014.
- ‘No room for complacency on terrorism’, The Age, 8 September, 2011.
- Official testimony before the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, Inquiry into Nuclear Non-Proliferation, 2010.
- Submission to the Australian Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, Defence Sub-Committee, Inquiry into Australia’s Defence Relations with the United States, Submission No. 2 (February 2004)
- Official Testimony before the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade (Defence Subcommittee), Inquiry into Australia’s Defence Relations with the United States, Brisbane, 7 April 2004.
- Private (Classified) Submission to the Flood Inquiry into Australia’s Intelligence Agencies, (May 2004)