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Defence and security research
Research expertise
International security
Global security risks, the gathering and analysis of intelligence, critical analysis of intelligence in investigations and detection.
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Military operations
Command and Leadership, joint, multinational and interagency environments, emerging and re-emerging defence challenges.
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New Zealand security
Critical research into New Zealand security issues and religious diversity, New Zealand security research methodology, social change.
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Regional specialisation
Geopolitics and security in the Pacific Islands region; role of regional and external actors in shaping and influencing regional security in the Pacific Islands; effective crisis management including peacekeeping; private security sector governance and state fragility.
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Sector specialisation
Border management, border security in New Zealand's National Security System, Australia and New Zealand border-related interests and domains in the Antarctic, officials' performance of security in Australia and New Zealand, policy narrative.
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War, conflict and society
Armed forces and society, war and society, military history, impact of historical events on contemporary warfare, the relationship between national interests and military strategy and the employment of military forces.
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Research projects
Inter-island rivalry
Many Pacific islands have been tied together as unitary territories by colonialism. Inter-island rivalry underpins peaceful attempts to secede. A collaborative research project with the University of Hawaiʻi explores the driving forces of inter-island rivalry and its potential to redraw the Pacific’s geo-political map in six Pacific countries and territories.
Law, Politics and the Limits of Prosecuting Mass Atrocity
Damien Rogers offers a unique and powerful critique of the quest for international criminal justice. It explores the efforts of three successive generations of international prosecutors, recognising the vital roles they play in the enforcement of international criminal law.
New Zealand National Security: Challenges, Trends and Issues
This publication, edited by Nick Nelson and William Hoverd, came out of the 2016 Massey University National Security Conference. It examines how to protect New Zealand’s border and the zones where its interests meet the world; alternative ways of approaching New Zealand’s national security; and looming national security questions. It aims to provide New Zealanders with a critical awareness of security trends, challenges and opportunities to initiate a “whole of society” discussion of security.
Pacific Private Security Governance Project
Private security actors in the Pacific Islands region are increasingly part of a complex and inter-connected formal and informal network of security stakeholders and providers. Two workshops were held in Fiji in 2016 in partnership with the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat and the United Nations Development Programme. Associate Professor Beth Greener and Dr Anna Powles are engaged in a book project on private security in the Pacific.
Post-internationalism and Small Arms Control: Theory, Politics, Security
Damien Rogers examines how the international community has responded to the challenge of controlling small arms and light weapons since the early 1990s. Using a post internationalist analytic framework, he specifically focuses on the maturing relationships between particular actors of world affairs and the nascent interconnectivity between their strategies for, and approaches toward, controlling these weapons.
Southern Katipo 2017
This project by Associate Professor Beth Greener, Dr Anna Powles, Dr Nina Harding and Dr Gerard Prinsen is investigating issues arising in civil-military-police-other government agency-non government agency interaction in the field. This involves engagement with and observation of a major New Zealand military exercise – Southern Katipo 2017 – to create a range of civil-military guidelines.
Typical New Zealanders
Dr Jeff McNeill’s research looks at the NZ Division’s participation in the WW1 Battle of Messines, and considers whether these Kiwi soldiers were “typical New Zealanders”. His work draws on documents from both sides of the conflict, and uses GIS to examine the battlefield terrain for clues to the events of the battle.
Women, Peace and Security and international policing
This project by Associate Professor Beth Greener and Dr Anna Powles considers the interplay of the UN’s Women, Peace and Security agenda and international policing in: increasing female participation and equity in UN operations; gender-sensitive policing; and alternatives to militarization.
Student research
Carrie Drake graduated with a Master of International Security in May 2017. For her master's research report, she investigated the social harms from cannabis by interviewing police in countries where the drug is legally available. Her findings come amid public debate about possible law change in New Zealand.
Carrie Drake
Master of International Security
Francis Maiava received the 2016 Strategic Advisory Board Prize for Top Student for his master's research on the diverse nature of human trafficking at the Thai-Burmese border.
Francis Maiava
Master of International Security
Claire’s research highlights the barriers police face, and the opportunities presented, when police value the role of women as leaders in peace and security.
Senior Sergeant Claire Bibby
Master of International Security (Intelligence)
Toni Jordan, a police detective in Auckland Central, explored the reasons senior rank New Zealand Police women are not applying for overseas peacekeeping deployments.
Toni Jordan
Master of International Security
Research centres
Security, Politics and Development Network
The Security, Politics and Development Network focuses on the dynamics between security, political and development issues related to fragile environments, security sector development and governance, and post-conflict peace support and development programmes in the Asia Pacific region.
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