Robert Ayson
Robert Ayson is Professor of Strategic Studies and directs the Centre for Strategic Studies: New Zealand at Victoria University. He has also taught at the Australian National University, Massey University and the University of Waikato, and worked in Wellington with the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Select Committee and the External (now National) Assessments Bureau.
Professor Ayson completed his PhD in War Studies at King’s College London as a Commonwealth Scholar and his MA at the ANU as a Freyberg Scholar. He has published on Asia-Pacific security, New Zealand and Australian defence policies, nuclear proliferation, and the relationship between strategic studies and international relations.
Following his earlier study of the American strategist Thomas Schelling, Professor Ayson has recently completed a book on the thinking of the Australian born scholar Hedley Bull. He is an Honorary Professor with the New Zealand Defence Force Command and Staff College.
Media comment
- Gillards Vision Complicated, The Dominion Post, 10 May 2013
- Robert Ayson: Let's Hope Threats Don't Lead to Action, New Zealand Herald - 5 April 2013
- Keeping both sides happy, The Dominion Post Editorial - 27 September 2012.
- Cooperation with the US a challenging strategy, The Dominion Post - 25 September 2012.
- New Zealand after Panetta, The Strategist, ASPI Blog - 25 September 2012.
- US-NZ defence relations, Morning Report, Radio NZ - 24 September 2012.
- Panetta port invitation rekindles ANZUS entente, The Australian - 22 September 2012.
- US Defense Secretary in NZ - first time in 30 years, TV One News - 21 September 2012.
- Leon Panetta's arrival in New Zealand, The Guardian - 20 September 2012.
- NZ needs to watch out for itself, NZ Herald - 18 September 2012.
- Panetta seeks to reassure allies and defuse China tension, Bloomberg, 16 September 2012.
- New Zealand's Afghanistan dilemma, Radio NZ - 21 August 2012.
- Propoganda war on Syria, TV3 - 10 August 2012.
- Pearl Harbour ban turns into boon for NZ sailors, Stuff online - 8 July 2012.
- NZDF in Pearl Harbour, TIME blog, 5 July 2012.
- Analyst says New Zealand now a defacto ally of US, Morning Report, Radio NZ - 21 June 2012.
- A new era in defence ties between New Zealand and the US, Radio Australia - 20 June 2012.
- Washington declaration, Stuff online - 20 June 2012
- Australia's strategic environment: 10 propositions, The Interpreter, Lowy Institute for International Policy - 15 June 2012.
- US relations with New Zealand revitalised, Radio Australia - 5 June 2012.
- G8 and Afghanistan, TV3 - 21 May 2012.
- China drives military relations - expert says, TVNZ One News - 4 May 2012.
- Revised MFAT plan, and quoted in a print article, Newstalk ZB - 3 May 2012.
- US-NZ exercise, TIME blog - 26 April 2012.
- Nuclear terrorism unlikely, TV3 News- 28 March 2012.
- MFAT changes, Morning Report, Radio NZ - 24 February 2012.
- Taliban confident of retaking Afghanistan, Checkpoint, Radio New Zealand - 2 February 2012
- Closer Australian-New Zealand defence links, Morning Report, Radio NZ - 30 January 2012.
- West displays Gulf military power to defiant Iran, Firstline, 3 News - 25 January 2012.
- Tensions rise between Iran and the EU, One News - 24 January 2012.
Papers and presentations
- Part of the Pivot? The Washington Declaration and US-NZ Relation, article in Asia Pacific Bulletin, No.172 - July 17, 2012.
- Loosening the US-China Straitjacket article in PacNet, No.67A - 6 December 2011.
- Ruling the Pacific Waves Pod cast from Radio New Zealand’s, Sunday Morning Programme - 4 December 2011.
- Interests, Values, and New Zealand's Engagement with Asia Inaugural Lecture - 19 July 2011.
- New Zealand and Australian Security Perceptions of China Presentation to a public symposium on New Zealand, Australia and China's Rise, Wellingtion - 7 April 2011.
Publications
- Robert Ayson (2011) ‘Force and Statecraft: Strategic Objectives and Relationships in New Zealand’s 2010 Defence White Paper’, Security Challenges, 7:1 (Autumn 2011), pp. 11-29.
- Robert Ayson [with David Capie] (2011) ‘Evolution, Not Revolution: The US-NZ Security Partnership’, Asia Pacific Bulletin 104, Washington DC: East-West Center, 31 March 2011.
- Robert Ayson (2011) 'An Australiasian school of strategic studies? Hedley Bull and changing international and regional systems', Global Change, Peace & Security, Vol. 23, No. 1, February 2011, 47-57.
- Robert Ayson (2010) ‘After a Terrorist Nuclear Attack: Envisaging Catalytic Effects’, Journal of Conflict and Terrorism, 33:7.
- Robert Ayson (2010) ‘Australia’s defense policy: medium power, even bigger ambitions?’, Korean Journal of Defense Analysis, 22:2.
- Robert Ayson (2009) ‘China Central? Australia’s Asia Strategy’, The International Spectator, 44:2.
- Robert Ayson (2008) ‘Strategic Studies' in Chris Reus-Smit and Duncan Snidal (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of International Relations, Oxford University Press.
- Robert Ayson (2007) 'The "Arc of Instability" and Australia's Strategic Policy', Australian Journal of International Affairs, 61:2.
- Robert Ayson (2006) Strategy and Security in the Asia-Pacific, Allen and Unwin. [Co-editor with Desmond Ball].
- Robert Ayson (2005) 'Regional Stability in the Asia-Pacific: Towards a Conceptual Understanding', Asian Security 1:2.
- Robert Ayson (2004) Thomas Schelling and the Nuclear Age: Strategy as Social Science, Frank Cass.