Claude was born in Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo and subsequently lived in Belgium, Switzerland, Ireland, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia. He then moved to Canada, where he obtained his BA (Hons) in International Relations from Simon Fraser University in Vancouver and studied for an MA in International Development at Carleton University in Ottawa. Following the completion of his PhD, National Integration in Pakistan: The Role of Religion, Ethnicity and the External Environment, at the University of Queensland, he moved down to Canberra.
Claude worked for almost 20 years in the Australian public sector in the areas of foreign affairs, defence and intelligence. The departments and agencies he had the opportunity to work in were: Defence, Foreign Affairs and Trade, Prime Minister and Cabinet, the Office of National Assessments and the Parliamentary Research Service. He has also been a trade adviser to a Deputy Prime Minister and foreign affairs adviser to a Shadow Foreign Minister.
In 2005, he established an independent consultancy, Geopolitical Assessments, which focuses on the analysis and assessment of political and strategic developments in South Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
In November 2012 he was part of the Australian delegation to the 1.5 Track Australia-Pakistan Strategic Dialogue meeting.
In January 2014 he moved to Washington DC where he's engaged in consultancy work.