Dr Robert Ayson

Robert Ayson is Professorial Fellow with the Centre for Strategic Studies at Victoria University of Wellington where from 2010 until early 2024 he was Professor of Strategic Studies. He is also a former Director of the Centre.

Research interests for Robert Ayson have included strategic ideas and theorists (including his intellectual biographies of Thomas Schelling and Hedley Bull); regional security and stability (including his book on Asia’s Security); nuclear strategy and arms control; and New Zealand and Australian defence and foreign policy.

In previous parts of his career Robert Ayson worked with the Australian National University’s Strategic and Defence Studies Centre (where he had earlier completed his MA as a Freyberg Scholar), Massey University, and the University of Waikato (where he had earlier studied as an undergraduate). He has also worked as a New Zealand government official.

Robert Ayson completed his PhD in War Studies at King’s College London as a Commonwealth Scholar. His other interests include gardening where he is seeking to apply what he is learning about permaculture.

Contact

robert.ayson@vuw.ac.nz