He holds appointments at the University of Western Sydney, The Australian National University, and the University of New South Wales at the Australian Defence Force Academy. His recent publications include The Empire of Civilization: The Evolution of an Imperial Idea (University of Chicago Press, 2009), and the four-volume edited major work Civilization: Critical Concepts (Routledge, 2009). He is an Associate Editor of the second edition of the six-volume Berkshire Encyclopedia of World History (2010), edited by William H. McNeill.