Dr Adam Simpson

Dr Simpson is Senior Lecturer in International Studies within UniSA Justice & Society. He contributes Global Politics courses to the Law, Policy and Politics and History and Global Politics majors within the Bachelor of Arts.

His research analyses environmental politics, authoritarianism, democratisation, military coups, genocide and civil conflict with a particular focus on Myanmar and Thailand. He also undertakes fieldwork, research and policy analysis on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, including issues related to NATO and the EU, and Australian climate politics.

He is the co-editor of the 2024 Second Edition of the volume Myanmar: Politics, Economy and Society (Routledge, Open Access), which examines the upheavals in Myanmar since the 2021 military coup. Praise for the first edition includes, 'a must-read for scholars on contemporary Myanmar and fascinating for anyone interested in broader processes of political and economic transformations', European Journal of East Asian Studies (2021).

Some of his policy and research articles can be found at:

• the Conversation (580,000+ reads since 2021)
• the Strategist published by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute
• the Interpreter published by the Lowy Institute
• East Asia Forum published by ANU
• Australian institute of International Affairs' (AIIA) Australian Outlook
• Inside Story
• 360info
• Kyoto Review of Southeast Asia
• See also this article in UniSA's Enterprise Magazine on his fieldwork related to the Ukraine conflict: ‘Postcards from the Edge: Insights from a Conflict Zone’

Other recent editions of his books published by Routledge include:

• Myanmar: Politics, Economy and Society (First edition 2021)
• Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Myanmar (Paperback edition 2020 - hardback 2018)
• Energy, Governance and Security in Thailand and Myanmar (Burma): A Critical Approach to Environmental Politics in the South (Paperback edition 2020 - hardback 2014)

Dr Simpson was founding Program Director for the University's Master of Communication and its nested suite of postgraduate programs, for which he taught the core course, Communication, Media and Creative Industries. He was also previously Program Director for the Master of Aboriginal Studies suite of programs and in 2013 was Inaugural Director of the Centre for Peace and Security in the Hawke Research Institute at UniSA. He is an Associate Member of the Barbara Hardy Institute. He is an Associate at the Sydney Southeast Asia Centre, University of Sydney, and the Indo-Pacific Governance Research Centre (IPGRC), University of Adelaide, where he was formerly Associate Lecturer in International Politics.

Prior to academia he worked as an Analyst with several US and British investment banks in the City of London including Merrill Lynch (now Bank of America), Bankers Trust International (now Deutsche Bank) and NatWest Global Financial Markets (now Royal Bank of Scotland). He has travelled widely, particularly in the less affluent countries of the global South. This work and travel informs his research and results in a critical approach to international politics.

His research focuses particularly on environmental politics/security and development in Myanmar and Thailand. He has published in leading international journals such as Environmental Politics, Society and Natural Resources, Third World Quarterly and Pacific Review. His book, Energy, Governance and Security in Thailand and Myanmar, was the first monograph in Routledge's 'Transforming Environmental Politics and Policy' series. Together with the updated paperback edition by NIAS/NUS Press the book was reviewed 20 times in refereed academic journals.

A review of The Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Myanmar (2018), for which Dr Simpson was lead editor, noted that 'throughout its 40 chapters, the book offers a much welcome and quite successful attempt at presenting academic research on all aspects of life in Myanmar. There is still so much to learn about the country, for foreigners and for the Burmese themselves alike. This book could only tackle its fair share of the task, but that it did. To anyone passionate about Myanmar, this book truly is a gold mine.'

Dr Simpson was Founding Co-Convenor of the Australian Political Studies Association Environmental Politics and Policy Research Group and was President of the Ecopolitics Association of Australasia.

Since 2013 he has been a Detailed Assessor for the Australian Research Council National Competitive Grants Program.

Policy Articles, Op Eds & Media

Dr Simpson regular contributes articles, particularly on politics relating to Myanmar, Thailand, Australia and the Ukraine conflict, to policy and news sites such as the Conversation. Conversation articles have been translated into French, Spanish and Indonesian for its international sites and are regularly re-published by news and policy sites such as ABC News, SBS News, 9News and the Mandarin in Australia, Stuff (New Zealand), Channel News Asia (Singapore), Asia Times (Hong Kong), Scroll (India) and Rappler (Philippines).

He is regularly interviewed by ABC News (e.g. expert comment on Thai politics for articles published in August 2024 can be found here, here, here, here and here)

He is also regularly interviewed in other media and podcasts including Counterpoint on ABC Radio National, SBS World News, South China Morning Post, Gizmodo, The Wire radio and The Conversation Weekly. 

Visiting Scholar Positions

In 2025 he will take up a Visiting Scholar position at the Centre for Southeast Asian Studies (CSEAS), Kyoto University, Japan. In 2016 he undertook a 6-month fully-funded Research Fellowship at Kyoto University.

In 2017 he was Visiting Scholar at SOAS, University of London.

In 2014 he was Visiting Research Fellow at Queen Mary, University of London.

In 2011 he was Visiting Lecturer at Keele University, UK.

Membership of Professional Organisations:

• Australian Political Studies Association (APSA), Environmental Politics and Policy Standing Group (Founding Convenor)
• International Studies Association (ISA), Environmental Studies Section
• European Consortium of Political Research (ECPR), Environmental Politics Standing Group
• International Political Science Association (IPSA)
• British International Studies Association (BISA), International Political Economy Group and Environment Working Group
• Indian Ocean Research Group (IORG), Human and Environmental Security Program

Qualifications

• Doctor of Philosophy University of Adelaide

• Master of Environmental Studies University of Adelaide

• Graduate Diploma of Education Southern Cross University

• Bachelor of Economics University of Adelaide

• Bachelor of Science (Maths and Computer Sciences) University of Adelaide