James has written for major US foreign policy journals such as Diplomatic History and The Journal of Cold War Studies along with The National Interest. He has also drafted policy briefs and reports for prominent think tanks such as the Lowy Institute and China Matters. His latest book, Australia’s China Odyssey: From Euphoria to Fear is a study of the history of the relationship from 1949 to the present and was endorsed by former senior Australian diplomats such as John McCarthy, Peter Varghese and Dennis Richardson. Formerly a non-resident fellow at the Lowy Institute and the US Studies Centre, he was a delegate to the UK-Australia Leadership Dialogue at Lancaster House in 2018 and in the same year was an invited delegate to the Shrangi-La Dialogue in Singapore.
Prior to joining Sydney University, Curran served in various roles in the Australian Public Service. From 2002 to 2005 he worked as a Policy Adviser in the Department of The Prime Minister and Cabinet, serving in its International Division. This included a short secondment to the US Alliance policy division in the Department of Defence. From 2005 to 2007, he was a senior intelligence analyst at the Office of National Assessments, where he specialised in US foreign policy, US domestic politics and Latin America.
In 2013, James was the Keith Cameron Chair of Australian History at University College Dublin and in 2010 a Fulbright Scholar at Georgetown University in Washington DC. His books include Fighting with America: Why Saying No to the US wouldn’t rupture the Alliance (2016) Unholy Fury: Nixon and Whitlam at War (2015) and Curtin’s Empire 2011. Curran’s first book, The Power of Speech: Australian Prime Ministers Define the National Image (2004) was shortlisted for both the Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards and the NSW Premier’s History Prize, while The Unknown Nation-Australia After Empire (2010) co-authored with Stuart Ward, was shortlisted for the Prime Minister’s Australian History Prize in 2011. He also wrote a biography of Australian Rugby Legend David Campese, Campese: The Last of the Dream Sellers (Scribe, 2021).
In addition to his many articles in the press, Curran has also written for Australian Foreign Affairs, the Council on Foreign Relations ‘Asia Unbound’ blog, the East Asia Forum. He is regularly sought for comment on foreign affairs by the Financial Times, The Washington Post and the New York Times.
詹姆斯曾为《外交史》（Diplomatic History）和《冷战研究杂志》（The Journal of Cold War Studies）等重要美国外交政策期刊以及《国家利益》（The National Interest）等刊物撰写文章。他还为著名智库如洛伊研究所（Lowy Institute）和中国问题研究所（China Matters）撰写政策简报和报告。他的最新著作《澳大利亚的中国奥德赛：从狂喜到恐惧》是对1949年至今中澳关系历史的研究，并得到了前澳大利亚高级外交官约翰·麦卡锡（John McCarthy）、彼得·瓦格希斯（Peter Varghese）和丹尼斯·理查森（Dennis Richardson）等人的认可。他曾是洛伊研究所和美国研究中心的非常驻研究员，并于2018年作为代表参加了在兰卡斯特大厦举行的英国-澳大利亚领导人对话会，并于同年受邀参加新加坡香格里拉对话会。
在加入悉尼大学之前，柯伦在澳大利亚公共服务部门担任多个职务。从2002年到2005年，他在总理和内阁部的国际事务处担任政策顾问。其中包括在国防部美国联盟政策部短期任职。从2005年到2007年，他是国家评估办公室的高级情报分析员，专门研究美国外交政策、美国国内政治和拉丁美洲。
2013年，詹姆斯担任都柏林大学学院基思·卡梅伦澳大利亚历史教授职位，2010年成为华盛顿特区乔治敦大学的富布莱特学者。他的著作包括《与美国携手战斗：拒绝美国不会破裂同盟》（2016年）、《不圣洁的愤怒：尼克松与惠特拉姆的战争》（2015年）和《柯廷的帝国》（2011年）。柯伦的第一本书《演讲的力量：澳大利亚总理定义国家形象》（2004年）入围了维多利亚总理文学奖和新南威尔士总理历史奖，而与斯图尔特·沃德（Stuart Ward）合著的《未知的国家-帝国后的澳大利亚》（2010年）入围了2011年总理澳大利亚历史奖。他还写过一本关于澳大利亚橄榄球传奇戴维·坎佩斯（David Campese）的传记《坎佩斯：最后的梦想家》（Scribe, 2021）。
除了在报纸上发表众多文章外，柯伦还为《澳大利亚对外事务》（Australian Foreign Affairs）、美国对外关系委员会的“亚洲不息”（Asia Unbound）博客和东亚论坛（East Asia Forum）撰写过文章。他经常被《金融时报》（Financial Times）、《华盛顿邮报》（The Washington Post）和《纽约时报》（The New York Times）等媒体邀请就外交事务发表评论。