David W. Lovell is Professor in International and Political Studies at UNSW Canberra, and Director of the John Howard Prime Ministerial Library. After completing his PhD in the History of Ideas (ANU), he joined UNSW in 1983. In 1993, he was the Australian Parliamentary Political Science Fellow, and since 1993 he has been a member of the Executive Committee of the International Society for the Study of European Ideas, and was co-editor of its journal, The European Legacy, until 2017. He is a member of the Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia-Pacific (CSCAP). After heading the School of Humanities and Social Sciences (2006–2016), he was most recently Associate Dean International (2017–2020). He has published a number of books on the history of political thought, post-communism, Asia-Pacific security, theatre, international humanitarian law and Australian politics.