About Us

Dr. Ash Rossiter is a lead researcher and Associate Professor in Defense and Security at Rabdan Academy in Abu Dhabi. He received his PhD from the University of Exeter in 2014 after earlier completing a MA in War Studies from King’s College London. Ash has published widely on technology and international security, strategy, warfare, and comparative defense industries. His work has appeared in peer-reviewed journals such as the Journal of Strategic Studies, International Relations, Intelligence & National Security, Defence Studies, Parameters, as well as many other outlets. He is author, along with Peter Layton, of Warfare in the Robotics Age, published in 2024 by Lynne Rienner. He is Editor of University of Exeter Press’s series: Exeter Strategic and Security Studies.

1. Ph.D., University of Exeter, 2014.
2. M.A., War Studies, King’s College London, 2005.

1. Defense Studies
2. Technology and Security
3. Strategic Studies
4. International Security
5. Military Innovation
6. Conduct of Contemporary Warfare
7. Intelligence and National Security
8. International Relations Theory

1. Technology and War
2. Military Innovation
3. Conduct of Contemporary Warfare

Books

1. Warfare in the Robotics Age (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 2024).
2. Robotics, Autonomous Systems, and Contemporary International Security, ed. (London: Routledge, 2021).
3. Security in the Gulf: Local Militaries before British Withdrawal (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2020).
4. Conflict and Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, ed. (London: Routledge Studies on Think Asia, 2020).




Select Peer-reviewed Journal Articles

1. “Rethinking and Arresting Eurasian Hegemony: The Centrality of Central Asia to Indo-Pacific Strategies, with Brendon J. Cannon, International Affairs (accepted and in publication).
2. “Defence Industry Policies of Small and Medium Powers: An Introduction to the Challenges and Prospects,” with Caglar Kurc and Martin Novella, Defence Studies (advanced online publication March 2025).
3. “Looking Under the Hood of Joint Naval Exercises: Motives and Perceived Benefits for Japan,” with Yee-Kuang Heng and Brendon J. Cannon, Pacific Review, Vol. 38, No. 1 (2025): 147-172.
4. “Revolutionizing C2 and Battle Management through XR: The Potential for Integrative Immersive Technologies for Tactical Advantage,” The Air Power Journal (December 2024): 39-48.
5. “Abu Dhabi’s Drive for Defence Industrialization: Paramountcy of the Economic Diversification Agenda,” with Athol Yates, Defence Studies (advanced online publication March 2025).
6. “Cable Risk and Resilience in the Age of Uncrewed Undersea Vehicles (UUVs),” Marine Policy, Vol. 171 (January 2025).
7. “Mitigating The Risk of Imported Soldiery: Britain, Dhofaris and the Early Militaries of the Emirates,” with Athol Yates, Armed Forces and Society, Vol. 51, No. 1 (2025): 147-172.
8. “A One-way Attack Drone Revolution? Affordable Mass Precision in Modern Conflict,” with Marcel Plichta, Journal of Strategic Studies, Vol. 47, No. 6-7 (2024): 1001-1031.
9. “Hyping Novel Military Technology: Probing the Causes and Consequences of Excessive Expectations,” International Relations (advanced online publication 2023).
10. “Military Technology and Revolutions in Warfare: Priming the Drone Debate,” Defense & Security Analysis, Vol. 39, No. 2 (2023): 253-255.
11. “AI-enabled Remote Warfare: Sustaining the Western Warfare Paradigm,” International Politics, Vol. 60, No. 4 (2023): 818-823.
12. “Turkey’s Rise as a Drone Power: Trial by Fire,” with Brendon J. Cannon, Defense & Security Analysis, Vol. 38, No. 2 (2022): 210–229.
13. “Winning by Outlasting: The United States and Ukrainian Resistance to Russia,” with Marc DeVore and Andrew Orr, Military Review, April 2022.
14. “Unraveling Japan’s Aircraft Carrier Puzzle: Leveraging Carriers’ Symbolic Value,” with Brendon J. Cannon, Asian Security, Vol. 18, No. 1 (2022): 20–37.
15. “Locating the Quad: Informality, Institutional Flexibility, and Future Alignment in the Indo-Pacific,” with Brendon J. Cannon, International Politics (published online, March 2022).
16. “Intelligence Collection in Arabia: Britain’s Roaming Information-Gatherers in the Trucial States, 1956-1971,” with Athol Yates, Intelligence and National Security, Vol. 35, No. 6 (2020): 767–786.
17. “Bots on the Ground: An Impending UGV Revolution in Military Affairs?” Small Wars & Insurgencies, Vol. 31, No. 4 (2020): 851–873.
18. “The Impact of Military Robotics and Autonomous Systems (RAS) across the Conflict Spectrum,” Small Wars & Insurgencies, Vol. 31, No. 4 (2020): 691–700.
19. “Making Arms in India: Examining New Delhi’s Renewed Attempt at Defence-Industrial Indigenization,” with Brendon J. Cannon, Defence Studies, Vol. 19, No. 4 (2019): 353–372).
20. “High-Energy Laser Weapons: Overpromising Readiness,” Parameters, Vol. 49, No. 1 (Winter 2018-2019): 35–46.
21. “Drone Usage by Militant Groups: Exploring Variation in Adoption,” Defense and Security Analysis, Vol. 34, No. 2 (2018): 113–26.