Drones and US Grand Strategy in the Contemporary World

“Modern warfare has a lot to do with disruptive strategy and technology. The arrival of drones as an instrument of warfare is changing the way wars are planned, prosecuted, won, or lost. This development holds salient implications for statecraft globally. Francis Okpaleke’s book (Drones and US Grand Strategy in the Contemporary World) is a timely and modest contribution to the emerging scholarship on the strategic import of dronification in the context of the rapidly evolving international praxis of warfare. I strongly recommend the book for all stakeholders of the global community of Defence and Strategy.”


— Al Chukwuma Okoli, Ph.D, Associate Professor of Political Science and Security Studies, Federal University of Lafia, Nigeria




This book makes a compelling case that lethal drone deployment as a counterterrorism tool and instrument of statecraft in targeted states engenders far-reaching consequences for US grand strategy. By examining how successive US administrations since 9/11 have deployed drones in pursuant of different typologies of US grand strategic objectives, the book probes the putative political and strategic goals drones supposedly advance, and the impact of its continued proliferation for US for international security. The book provides a powerful base of evidence for policy makers and researchers by pointing to the perils of deployment of drone technology beyond their immediate or short-term objectives. It also explores how non-state actors and authoritarian regimes such as armed groups are harnessing armed drone technologies for their own political and military ends, as well as the underlying implications for US grand strategy and international security at large.



Francis Okpaleke is a Senior Research and Policy Analyst for the Information and Communication Technology Council, Canada. He was formerly a Teaching and Research Fellow at the Department of Politics and Public Policy, University of Waikato, New Zealand. Francis holds a Ph.D. in International Relations and Security Studies, an MSc in Terrorism and Security Studies from the University of Salford, United Kingdom, and a BSc (First Class Honors) in Political Science from the University of Nigeria.