Podcast with Andrew Shearer

Interview with Andrew Shearer, The Director-General of National Intelligence in Australia. Recorded in May 2024 by Ashley Barnett.

The DG discusses the following topics:
– The role of strategic analysis
– Deciding what questions the Office of National Intelligence addresses
– How he thinks about understanding the intent of state actors, and the need to consider both structural issues and the thinking of key decision makers
– The importance of identifying causal drivers to provide advice to government on what actions it can take to make the country more resilient
– How history informs analytic assessments

He also provides some really interesting insights into what it’s like to work as an analyst in Australia’s National Intelligence Community.

Links & books mentioned in the interview
https://www.oni.gov.au/
https://www.intelligence.gov.au/
The Hollow Crown: Shakespeare on How Leaders Rise, Rule, and Fall by Eliot A. Cohen
Strategy: A History by Lawrence Freedman

Questions: barnett.a@unimelb.edu.au
Information on training courses on analytic rigour: https://huntlab.science.unimelb.edu.au/barnett/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashley-barnett-385024226/