Dr Merriden Varrall is Director of the Australia Geopolitics Hub at KPMG Australia. She draws together a holistic range of geopolitical services and solutions to provide clients with the support they need to navigate the rapidly changing global business landscape. Before joining KPMG, Merriden was Director of the East Asia Program at the Lowy Institute where her work concentrated on developing an understanding of East Asia ‘from the inside out’, and analysing the Australia-China bilateral relationship. Prior to that she was Assistant Country Director and Senior Policy Advisor at UNDP China. She has spent almost 8 years living and working in China, including working for the United Nations (ILO and UNDP), lecturing in foreign policy at the China Foreign Affairs University, and conducting fieldwork for her doctoral research.