Dr Andrew Selth holds degrees in history and international relations from the Australian National University (ANU), and a PhD in Asian studies from Griffith University. He has also been awarded a graduate diploma in strategic studies from the Australian Defence Force’s Joint Services Staff College.

For 14 years, Dr Selth was a member of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs, and served as a diplomat in Burma, the Republic of Korea and New Zealand. In 1986 he transferred to the Department of Defence. Apart from one year in the department’s International Policy Division, he spent the next 18 years as a strategic analyst with the Defence Intelligence Organisation. He was promoted to the Senior Executive Service in 1996. In 2004, Dr Selth was appointed Assistant Director-General, Transnational Issues, in the Office of National Assessments, Australia’s peak intelligence assessments agency. He retired from the Australian Public Service in 2006.

Over the past 25 years, Dr Selth has published more than 70 peer-reviewed research papers, book chapters and journal articles on strategic issues and Asian affairs. He has also written two books on international terrorism, and three books on contemporary Burma. His last major work was 'Burma’s Armed Forces: Power Without Glory' (Norwalk, 2002).

In 2007, Dr Selth was awarded a three-year fellowship by the Australian Research Council. He is currently a Research Fellow in the Griffith Asia Institute, at Griffith University. He is a member of the Asian Studies Association of Australia and the Australian Institute of International Affairs.