Dr Lee was an ASPI Council member until June 2023. 

Lavina is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Politics and International Relations at Macquarie University, Sydney. She has commerce and law degrees from the University of NSW, an MA in International Peace and Security from King’s College, University of London, and a PhD in International Relations from Sydney University. Prior to joining Macquarie University, Dr Lee was a political risk consultant with Control Risks Group.

She has been an academic at Macquarie University since 2007 teaching at both undergraduate and postgraduate students in the field of international relations. At Macquarie she has served as the Convenor of the Master of International Relations program, and is currently Director of Higher Degree Research for the Department as well as an appointed member of the University Academic Standards and Quality Committee.

Dr Lee is the author of the book US Hegemony and International Legitimacy: Norms Power and Followership in the Wars on Iraq(Routledge, 2010), and has published numerous articles, book chapters, research reports and commentary on Indian foreign and security policy, nuclear proliferation, US foreign policy, and security relations in the Indo-Pacific. She also periodically publishes opinion pieces in The Australian, The Australian Financial Review, The Hindustan Times, and the New Straits Times, as well as with specialist policy outlets such as the Lowy Interpreter and ASPI Strategist.

She has led projects for the Australian government and think-tanks on opportunities and weaknesses of the ‘Quad’, Chinese influence in South-East Asia, the role of democracy promotion in the Free and Open Indo-Pacific strategy and the role of India in the Indo-Pacific. Her work integrates academic and policy approaches and she speaks widely to expert and lay audiences on international and security issues.

Prior to joining the ASPI Council, Dr Lee was a Director of the Institute for Regional Security.