Reuben Steff

Dr. Reuben Steff is Senior Lecturer at the University of Waikato, New Zealand. He teaches courses on International Relations, Global Security and NZ Foreign Policy. He is also a member of Te Puna Haumaru - NZ Institute for Security and Crime Science.

His academic research stretches across a number of areas and includes the implications of Artificial Intelligence for the global balance of power, the intersection between nuclear deterrence theory/ballistic missile defence and the security dilemma, New Zealand and US foreign policy, and Great Power Competition between the US and China. He is the author of four books, including Emerging Technologies and International Security: Machines, the State and War (Routledge 2020) and US Foreign Policy in the Age of Trump: Drivers, Strategy and Tactics (Routledge, 2020).

Prior to his time in academia, he spent 2.5 years working in the NZ Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. He regularly participates in various policy development processes in New Zealand (for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Defence and Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet), attends a number of academic-government roundtables on national security issues, and participates in track 1.5 and track 2 dialogues.