James Curran is Professor of Modern History at the University of Sydney. A former analyst with the Office of National Assessments, he was also a Fulbright Scholar at Georgetown University in Washington DC and later the Chair of Australian History at University College Dublin. James writes a fortnightly column on foreign affairs for The Australian Financial Review (AFR) and from mid year will take up a position as contributing Foreign Editor at the AFR. His latest book is Australia's China Odyssey: From Euphoria to Fear and he is commencing work now on a study of former Prime Minister Paul Keating's foreign policy.