Evan A. Laksmana

Evan A. Laksmana is a nonresident scholar at Carnegie China, where he examines U.S.-China dynamics in Southeast Asia and the broader Asia-Pacific. Laksmana is also a senior research fellow with the Centre on Asia and Globalisation at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore. His research focuses on military change, civil-military relations, and Southeast Asian defense and foreign policies. He is also currently a nonresident scholar with the Lowy Institute for International Policy.

He was previously a senior researcher at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Indonesia and the Wang Gungwu Visiting Fellow with the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore. He has held visiting and research positions with National Bureau of Asian Research, Sydney University Southeast Asia Centre, the German Marshall Fund of the United States, and the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, NTU. He has consulted for the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), the UNODC Global Maritime Crime Programme, Transparency International, and other international institutions and government agencies.

His peer-reviewed research has appeared in the Journal of Contemporary Asia, Asian Security, Asia Policy, Asian Politics & Policy, Defense & Security Analysis, Defence Studies, Contemporary Southeast Asia, Journal of the Indian Ocean Region, and others. He has written for the New York Times, Washington Post, Foreign Policy, Foreign Affairs, among others, and has contributed to the RAND Corporation, Brookings Institution, International Institute for Strategic Studies, Royal United Services Institute, Australian Strategic Policy Institute, Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, and others.

He earned his PhD in political science from Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs as a Fulbright Presidential Scholar. He received additional training in social science methodology and defense policy analysis from Columbia University (SWAMOS), U.S. Department of Defence (APCSS), University of Michigan (ICPSR), and Syracuse University (IQMR). He was part of the International Institute for Strategic Studies Shangri-La Dialogue Young Southeast Asian Leaders and a fellow of the International Security Forum – Asia.