Meet the Author - Hugh White

Hugh White AO FASSA Hugh White discusses his new book Hard New World Our Post-American Future with Allegra Spender. They discuss Australia's place in the new global landscape. Are we ready for our post-American future? In an era of rising danger for all, and dramatic choices for Australia, Hugh White explores how the world is changing and Australia should respond.

Under Donald Trump, America's retreat from global leadership has been swift and erratic. China, Russia and India are on the move. White explains the big strategic trends driving the war in Ukraine, and why America has 'lost' Asia. He discusses Albanese Labor's record and why complacency about the American alliance - including AUKUS - is no longer an option. This brilliant short book urges us to navigate a hard new world with realism and confidence.This is a thoroughly updated and significantly expanded edition of the bestselling Quarterly Essay, published in 2025.

"Since 2010, Hugh White has played a key part in a broader debate over the hard questions pressing upon the nation's and the region's strategic future – indeed, his role has arguably been much more important than any of the Australian defence or foreign policy think tanks. Need further proof be given of his success in disturbing the conventional wisdom than the shrill responses it has often provoked? No analyst can be right all the time or on everything, but from a standing start, White foresaw China's growing strengths and its implications for America's posture in Asia, along with the consequences for long-established habits of mind and practice in Australia." —James Curran

Hugh White AO is Emeritus Professor of Strategic Studies at the Australian National University. His work focuses primarily on Australian strategic and defence policy, Asia-Pacific security issues, and global strategic affairs especially as they influence Australia and the Asia-Pacific. From 1985-1991 he was Senior Adviser to Defence Minister and Prime Minister; 1995-2000 Deputy Secretary for Strategy, Department of Defence; 2001-2004 Director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, 2004-2011 Head of the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, ANU .

Allegra Spender is a a local business leader, renewable energy advocate and the independent Federal Member of Parliament for the Wentworth Electorate. Allegra obtained an Economics degree from Cambridge University, an MSc from the University of London, and completed business courses at Harvard and Dartmouth College. She has been a business analyst at McKinsey, a policy analyst in the UK Treasury, Managing Director at Carla Zampatti Pty Ltd and CEO of the Australian Business and Community Network.