Rebecca Strating

Bec Strating directs La Trobe Asia and serves as Professor of International Relations at La Trobe UniverBec Strating directs La Trobe Asia and serves as Professor of International Relations at La Trobe University, Melbourne. Her research focuses on Asian regional security, maritime disputes, and Australian foreign and defence policy. She has authored three books, including Defending the Maritime Rules-Based Order (2020), and co-authored Girt by Sea: Reimagining Australia’s Security with Professor Joanne Wallis (La Trobe University Press/Black Inc, 2024), launched by Foreign Minister Penny Wong. She also co-edited Blue Security in the Indo-Pacific (Routledge, 2024) and The Politics of Global Ocean Regions (Palgrave, 2025, forthcoming), while publishing extensively in leading journals such as Contemporary Security Policy, Marine Policy, Pacific Review, and Australian Journal of International Affairs.

Strating leads the DFAT-funded “Blue Security” network on Indo-Pacific maritime security issues and has directed over 20 externally funded research collaborations. Her work has earned significant recognition, including a 2025 Fulbright Fellowship, the 2024 Bernard Brodie Prize for best article in Contemporary Security Policy, and selection as a Fellow of the Australian Institute of International Affairs. She was also named a finalist for the Australian Financial Review’s 2024 Emerging Leader in Higher Education award.

She chairs the Advisory Board of Women in International Security-Australia and holds affiliated researcher positions at Georgetown University, the East West Centre Council on Indo-Pacific Relations, and the Australian National University’s National Security College. She also serves as a Nonresident Fellow at the National Bureau of Asian Research.