| Damien Kingsbury | |
| Birth Date: | 30 August 1955 |
| Alma Mater: | Monash University Columbia University |
| Workplaces: | Deakin University |
Damien Kingsbury, is an Australian academic specializing in political and security issues.
Kingsbury studied Journalism and Politics at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. In 1983, he was awarded the Australian News Correspondents Memorial Award as the Tony Joyce Scholar for his journalism from El Salvador, to undertake an MS in Journalism at Columbia University, New York. In 1989, Kingsbury completed an MA in Development Studies at Monash University in 1991. In 1997 he graduated with a PhD at Monash University, Cultural and Political Issues in Australian Reporting of Indonesia 1975-1993.
In 1979-80 Kingsbury was a journalist for Australian Associated Press. In 1981 he wrote articles on the civil war in El Salvador, published in The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and the (London) Observer.[1] Kingsbury took up a staff position with The Age in mid-1981.
In 1985, Kingsbury joined the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Radio News Division, then Radio Australia. While at Radio Australia, Kingsbury was awarded the Australian ASEAN Journalists Program in 1988. Kingsbury has since contributed to a number of media outlets, including as 'World' commentator for ABC Melbourne until 2020[2] and, until 2019, as international affairs commentator for Crikey[3] and as weekly international affairs commentator for ABC Victoria. He is regularly quoted by Australian and international media on regional political affairs.
Kingsbury lectured in Journalism at Deakin University (1989-1991), leaving to complete his PhD studies. He returned to Monash University in 1998 as Coordinator of the MA in Asian Studies and Lecturer in Development Studies. In 1999, Kingsbury led the Australia East Timor International Volunteer Program monitoring mission to Timor-Leste's 'popular consultation' for independence.
In 2001, Kingsbury joined Deakin University as a Senior Lecturer in International and Community Development. While with Deakin, in 2005 Kingsbury was adviser to the Free Aceh Movement in the Helsinki peace talks,[4] ending three decades of conflict in the western Indonesian province of Aceh. The mediator of these peace talks, former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize in October 2008, 'for his efforts on several continents and over more than three decades', including playing a prominent role in resolving many conflicts in Namibia; Aceh, Indonesia; Kosovo and Iraq, among other areas'. Kingsbury also advised on conflict resolution to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, the West Papua Coalition for National Liberation, on separatist internecine conflict in Nagaland (India) and with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
In 2006 Kingsbury was promoted to Associate Professor and in 2010 appointed to a Personal Chair as Professor. While at Deakin University, Kingsbury coordinated election observer missions to Timor-Leste in 2007, 2012, 2017 and 2018. In 2014 Kingsbury returned to El Salvador to research the publication Gold, Water and the Struggle for Basic Rights in El Salvador (Oxfam Australia, 14 September 2014) which contributed to the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes dismissing a claim by Pac Rim Cayman LLC against El Salvador in regard to its freedom to mine under the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), being the first time the NAFTA provisions had been defeated in court.
In 2015, Kingsbury was named Professor of International Politics[5] and in November of the same year he coordinated election observers to Myanmar's general elections. From 2014 to 2015 Kingsbury worked as a columnist for The Guardian.[6] He retired from Deakin University at the end of 2020 and was made an Emeritus Professor of the university in July 2021.
Kingsbury is the author or editor of:
Kingsbury is married to Rae Kingsbury, A.M. (née Perry), former Honorary Consul for Timor-Leste in Victoria 2012–2018, and is father of two children, Alexandra and Cailan. He is Vice-President/Deputy Chair of the Balibo House Trust[7] and formerly a Director on the Board of the East Timor Hearts Fund.[8] He is also a founding Board member of the Australia Myanmar Institute and led the 2018 Australia Timor-Leste Election Observer Mission.[9]