Charles Edel

Senior Adviser and Australia Chair
Charles Edel

Charles Edel is a senior adviser and the inaugural Australia Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He previously taught at the University of Sydney, where he was also a senior fellow at the United States Studies Centre. Prior to that, Dr. Edel was a professor of strategy and policy at the U.S. Naval War College and served on the U.S. secretary of state’s Policy Planning Staff from 2015 to 2017. In that role, he advised the secretary of state on political and security issues in the Indo-Pacific region. He has also been a global fellow at the Wilson Center and a Henry Luce scholar at Peking University's Center for International and Strategic Studies, and he was awarded the Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellowship. He is the coauthor of The Lessons of Tragedy: Statecraft and World Order (Yale University Press, 2019) and author of Nation Builder: John Quincy Adams and the Grand Strategy of the Republic (Harvard University Press, 2014). Currently, he is working on a book examining the United States' history of dealing with authoritarian regimes. In addition to his scholarly publications, his writings appear in the Washington Post, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, and various other outlets. He also regularly offers foreign policy commentary on television and radio, including CNBC, ABC, Sky News, Australia’s RN, and NPR. He is a New York native and former high school history teacher in New York City, as well as an officer in the U.S. Naval Reserves. Dr. Edel holds a PhD in history from Yale University and received a BA in classics from Yale College.

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The Truth of the Matter

Trump and the Australian Elections

CSIS’s Charles Edel joins the podcast to discuss the Australian elections and what it means for the Trump administration and the United States.  

Podcast Episode by H. Andrew Schwartz and Charles Edel — May 7, 2025

CSIS the truth of the matter

Australia’s 2025 Election: Decisive Labor Majority Amid Liberal Collapse

The Albanese government's landslide reelection gives it a strong mandate to shape both domestic policy and Australia’s strategic role in the region, a critical responsibility as the security environment grows increasingly dangerous and demands greater attention.

Critical Questions by Charles Edel — May 5, 2025

Audio Briefs

What’s at Stake in this Year’s Australian Election?

An audio version of “⁠What’s at Stake in this Year’s Australian Election?⁠,” a new Critical Questions by CSIS's Charles Edel. This audio was generated with text-to-speech by Eleven Labs.

Podcast Episode by Charles Edel — April 25, 2025

Audio Briefs

China’s Power Play Across the Pacific

China's recent actions in the Pacific present an unmistakable message to Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands.

Commentary by Charles Edel and Kathryn Paik — April 8, 2025