Kester Abbott is a Research Associate at the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney and a Nonresident James A. Kelly Korea Fellow at the Pacific Forum. His research explores strategies for deepening security cooperation between U.S. allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific and Euro-Atlantic. Kester formally interned at the ‘UK in the World’ Programme at Chatham House, covering the most pressing foreign policy challenges facing the UK, with a focus on the Indo-Pacific. He is also a participant of the Korea-EU-NATO NextGen Policy Experts Network. Kester holds a Masters degree in Global Affairs and Policy from Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea. During his three years in Seoul, Kester worked at a number of think tanks and research centres examining Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia security issues, including the East Asia Institute, the Peninsula Diplomacy Group, the Yonsei Center for International Studies and the Yonsei Center on Oceania Studies. He holds a First-Class Bachelor (Hons) degree in History from University College London.