The NZIIA Wellington Branch and the Centre for Strategic Studies is delighted to invite you to the New Zealand launch of "The Hand Behind Unmanned: Origins of the US Autonomous Military Arsenall" (published 2025, OUP). The Hand Behind Unmanned tells the fascinating story of the people, processes, and beliefs that led to the contemporary American unmanned arsenal. It takes an expansive look at automated and autonomous technologies, from mines and torpedoes to guided bombs and missiles, satellites, and ultimately drones, to explain why certain types of unmanned systems became popular while others languished in research or in small pockets of the American military.

The book draws on interviews of senior decision-makers, military doctrine and writings, and historical sources, to detail the proliferation of over a hundred years of unmanned weapons in the US arsenal. It reveals how multiple factors – key policy entrepreneurs, critical junctures like the fall of the USSR and 9/11 attacks, beliefs that emerged in the wake of the Vietnam War, and US military service culture – all interacted to form today’s unmanned arsenal.

This talk will explore key themes of the book as well as consider how its argument applies to the current international security environment. How will these beliefs evolve to impact future force developments? What does this case of unmanned technologies reveal about US support for Ukraine, or for contemporary weapons debates about cyber, space, and hypersonic missiles? And what does it suggest about how the US military might fare across an array of possible future conflicts?

Event details

Speaker: Dr Julia Macdonald, University of Denver & Asia New Zealand Foundation

Date/Time: Tuesday 4 March 5:30-7:00pm

Venue: Rutherford House, RHLT1, Pipitea Campus, 33 Bunny Street

Doors Open: 5:10pm.

Professor David Capie of the Centre for Strategic Studies will provide concluding remarks.

Terms and Conditions

-Registrations are required to attend this event. No walk ups allowed. Non members can attend by paying the registration fee.

-Registrations will be checked against the NZIIA 2025 Membership database . Should you have an invalid registration NZIIA Wellington reserves the right to cancel your registration.

-Should you have not renewed your NZIIA Wellington 2025 membership please do so prior to registering for this event.

-One ticket per person. Each ticket must contain your full first and surname, email address and phone number that matches your ID.

-All student members must register with their VUW or Massey student email for a valid registration.

-If, after registering, you are unable to attend the event please have the courtesy to cancel your ticket to ensure other people are able to attend. A waitlist will operate.

-In keeping with NZIIA practice, unauthorised recording of this event (either audio or video) is not permitted. Members and guest are reminded to adhere to the NZIIA Code of Conduct.

Biography

JULIA MACDONALD is a Research Professor at the Korbel School of International Studies, University of Denver and Director, Research and Engagement, at the Asia New Zealand Foundation.

Prior to joining the Foundation she held roles in government and academia.

In government, Julia worked for the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet leading work on New Zealand’s first National Security Strategy, and before that at the New Zealand Ministry of Defence.

From 2017-2021, Julia was an Assistant Professor at University of Denver’s Korbel School of International Studies where she taught and published on a range of international security issues. Julia regularly teaches courses at the Victoria University of Wellington where she is a Senior Fellow in the Centre for Strategic Studies.

She has held fellowships at Harvard University, MIT, and the University of Pennsylvania. Julia holds a Ph.D. from the George Washington University, an M.A. (Hons) from the University of Chicago, and a B.A. (Hons) from the University of Canterbury, New Zealand.