Ben Bland is Director of the Asia-Pacific Programme at Chatham House, the international think-tank in London. His research is focused on the intersection of politics, geopolitics and economics and he regularly advises governments, officials and companies on these issues. Ben is the author of two books on politics in Asia and has lived and worked across the region, in Australia, China, Indonesia, Singapore and Vietnam. He was previously Director of the Southeast Asia Programme at the Lowy Institute in Sydney. Before that, he was a correspondent for the Financial Times across Asia for a decade. Ben has degrees in History and Southeast Asian Studies from the University of Cambridge and the School of Oriental and African Studies respectively. A life-long fan of Brentford Football Club, Ben is a board member of Bees United, the official supporters’ trust for the English Premier League club.