Hugh White is Emeritus Professor of Strategic Studies at the Australian National University. White has served as an intelligence analyst with the Office of National Assessments, as journalist with the Sydney Morning Herald and as senior adviser to Defence Minister Kim Beazley and Prime Minister Bob Hawke. White served as a senior official in the Department of Defence, where from 1995 to 2000 White was Deputy Secretary for Strategy and Intelligence and was the first director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. White was the principal author of Australia’s 2000 Defence White Paper. His major publications include The China choice: Why America should share power [2012], How to defend Australia [2019], and three Quarterly Essays [2010, 2017 and 2022] on Australia's relations with America and China.