Robert Ayson, BSocSci(Hons) (Waikato), MA (ANU), PhD (London)
Director of Studies, Graduate Studies in Strategy and Defence; Senior Fellow

Email: Robert.Ayson@anu.edu.au

Biographical Statement

Robert Ayson directs the Graduate Studies in Strategy and Defence Program where he teaches Strategic Concepts. His research interests centre on the relationship between strategic ideas and strategic policy. Dr Ayson is an authority on the Nobel Prize winning work of the American strategic theorist Thomas Schelling, and is currently undertaking a study of Hedley Bull's strategic thinking. He is also a Chief Investigator for an Australian Research Council Linkage Project on Australia's Nuclear Choices. Dr Ayson has also written on security issues involving Asia's great powers, Australian strategic policy towards Asia, and the future of the nuclear non-proliferation regime.

Research Interests

Strategic thought, nuclear proliferation, Asia-Pacific security, Australian/New Zealand strategic policies.

Key Publications

• 'Strategic Studies', in Chris Reus-Smit and Duncan Snidal (eds), The Oxford Handbook of International Relations, Oxford University Press, 2008.
• 'The "Arc of Instability" and Australia's Strategic Policy', Australian Journal of International Affairs, 61:2, 2007.
• 'Understanding Australia's Defence Dilemmas', Security Challenges 2:2, 2006. Strategy and Security in the Asia-Pacific, Allen and Unwin, 2006. [Co-editor with Desmond Ball].
• 'New Zealand and East Asia's Security Future,' Asia-New Zealand Foundation, 2006.
• 'Selective Non-Proliferation or Universal Regimes?', Australian Journal of International Affairs 59:4, 2005.
• 'Regional Stability in the Asia-Pacific: Towards a Conceptual Understanding', Asian Security 1:2, 2005.
• Thomas Schelling and the Nuclear Age, Frank Cass, 2004.
• 'Attacking North Korea: Why War Might Be Preferred', Comparative Strategy, 23:3, 2004. [Co-authored with Brendan Taylor].
• 'Management, Abolition and Nullification: Nuclear Non-Proliferation Strategies in the 21st Century,' The Nonproliferation Review 8:3, 2001.

Career Highlights

Asst. Intelligence Officer, External Assessments Bureau, NZ, 1989-90; Asst. Lecturer, Dept. of Politics, University of Waikato, NZ, 1991-3; Specialist Adviser, NZ Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Select Committee, 1997-8; Lecturer in International Relations, Massey University, NZ, 1998-2001; Director of Studies, Graduate Studies in Strategy and Defence, 2002-.