Martin Stuart-Fox

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Martin Stuart-Fox (born 1939) is a retired Australian professor and foreign correspondent who writes about the history, politics and international relations of Southeast Asia, primarily Laos.

After studying biological sciences at the University of Queensland, Martin Stuart-Fox worked as a marine biologist in Papua New Guinea, then taught science in Hong Kong. In 1963 he was employed by the U.S. Agency for International Development as an agricultural extension officer in Laos. There he began reporting for United Press International, initially as a stringer and then as a staff correspondent. In 1965 UPI assigned him to cover the war in Vietnam. In Saigon, he shared a house with half a dozen other young journalists and photographers, including Steve Northup, Simon Dring, Tim Page and Joe Galloway. At the end of 1966, he left Vietnam for France and over the next five years freelanced, traveled, and studied in several countries. In 1972, he was UPI correspondent in Dacca reporting on the birth of Bangladesh,

At the end of 1972, Martin Stuart-Fox returned to Australia, where after a brief stint in journalism, he began tutoring in Asian civilizations at the University of Queensland. After gaining an M.A. and Ph.D. in the philosophy and theory of history, he went on to become a professor and Head of History. He retired as professor emeritus in 2005, and is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities. His research has focused on the history and politics of Laos, on which he has written six books and more than fifty book chapters and articles, including the Freedom House section on Laos for 2011. He has also written on Buddhist symbolism, the Khmer Rouge period in Cambodia, and Chinese relations with Southeast Asia.