Anthea Roberts

Anthea Roberts is a Professor at the School of Regulation and Global Governance (RegNet) at the Australian National University (ANU) and a Visiting Professor at Harvard Law School. Her research focuses on public international law, international trade and investment, the impact of geopolitical change on global governance, and the study of complex adaptive systems.

Roberts is known for developing integrative frameworks to make sense of contested and multifaceted global issues, a process she calls Dragonfly Thinking. This approach combines diverse perspectives and interdisciplinary insights to navigate complexity and identify new pathways for understanding and action. Through her company, Dragonfly Thinking, she is currently developing AI tools to apply her Risk, Reward and Resilience (RRR) Framework and Multi-Lens Analysis (MLA) to policy, strategy, and governance challenges.

Before joining ANU, Roberts taught at the London School of Economics, Columbia Law School, and Harvard Law School. She has also served as a Visiting Professor at Harvard Law School, the Graduate Institute, and the University of Geneva. She has been recognised by the League of Scholars as the world’s leading international law scholar (2019) and Australia’s leading international law scholar (2022, 2023).

Roberts’s research and writing has received numerous awards, including the American Society of International Law’s Certificate of Merit for Preeminent Contribution to Creative Scholarship for her book Is International Law International?, the Francis Deák Prize (twice) from the American Journal of International Law, a UK Leverhulme Award, an ANU Futures Award, and the JG Crawford Award for the best social science PhD at ANU. Her most recent book, Six Faces of Globalisation was named one of the Best Books of 2021 by The Financial Times and Fortune Magazine.

In addition to her academic work, Roberts engages extensively with governments and businesses on issues of international law and global strategy. Earlier in her career, she practised law at Debevoise & Plimpton LLP in New York and London and served as Associate to Chief Justice Gleeson AC at the High Court of Australia. She has acted as counsel, expert, consultant, and arbitrator in investment treaty and commercial arbitration, as well as public international law disputes.

Roberts holds an interdisciplinary PhD in Global Governance from ANU, an LLM in International Legal Studies from New York University, and a BA/LLB (with studies in law, philosophy, and mathematics) from ANU.