Dr. Wes Hutto is a Professor of Strategy and Security Studies at the School of Advanced Air and Space Studies, Maxwell AFB, Alabama. He is a course director, thesis and dissertation advisor, and researcher. Since 2025 he oversees institutional effectiveness at SAASS.
Dr. Hutto joined the SAASS faculty in 2023. He is a political scientist. His research interests include drone warfare and its intersection with IR and IR theory, regional powers and comparative security, military strategy, and multinational military exercises. He teaches courses in military theory, technology and military innovation, and international relations.
Prior to teaching at SAASS, Dr. Hutto completed his Ph.D. in political science at the University of Alabama. Prior to his current position, he was a Professor of Military and Security Studies at the USAF Air Command and Staff College. He is a non-resident Senior Fellow at Cornell University’s Brooks Tech Policy Institute
EDUCATION
2010 Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, University of North Texas, Denton, TX
2016 Doctorate of Philosophy in Political Science, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL
CAREER CHRONOLOGY
July 2016 – June 2023, Professor of Military and Security Studies, Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell, Air Force Base, AL
June 2023 – present, Professor of Strategy and Security Studies, School of Advanced Air and Space Studies, Maxwell, AFB, AL
September 2024 – present, non-resident Senior Fellow, Brooks Tech Policy Institute, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
AWARDS
2022 Contemporary Strategy and Landpower Essay Award, for “JDN 2-19: Hitting the Target but Missing the Mark” (with Ann Mezzell), presented by the US Army War College Foundation
2024 Christopher Coker Prize for best paper in strategic studies, for “Can Drones Coerce? The Effects of Remote Aerial Coercion in Counterterrorism” (with Kelly Grieco), presented by Palgrave and International Politics
PUBLICATIONS
“The Socialization of Military Power: Doctrine Development through Multinational Military Exercises,” Defense Studies 17, no. 4 (2017): 379-97. [with Derrick Frazier]
“Tactical Friends with Strategic Benefits: NATO’s Tactical Leadership Programme,” RUSI Journal 163, no. 5 (Oct/Nov 2018): 38-48. [with Derrick Frazier]
“Space Entanglements: The India-Pakistan Rivalry and a US-China Security Dilemma,” USAF Journal of Indo-Pacific Affairs 3, no. 4 (2020): 229-238
“JDN 2-19: Hitting the Target but Missing the Mark,” US Army War College Quarterly Journal: Parameters 51, no. 2 (Summer 2021): 73-84. [with Ann Mezzell]
“Ten Propositions Regarding Great Power Politics,” Æther: A Journal of Strategic Airpower and Spacepower 1, no. 2. (Summer 2022): 1-8. [with Lt Gen Chance Saltzman, USSF, and James Forsyth]
“Can Drones Coerce? The Effects of Remote Aerial Coercion in Counterterrorism,” International Politics 60, no. 4 (2023): 919-43. [with Kelly Grieco]
“Air War as Politics by Other Means: Operation Inherent Resolve,” in Operation Inherent Resolve: Insights and Perspectives from Air University (Maxwell, AFB: Air University Press, 2023)
“Underbalancing in a Regional World,” Journal of Regional Security 18, no. 2 (2023): 135-62
“Power Dynamics at the Global-Regional Nexus: Examining Structural Constraints on Regional Conflict Management,” International Politics 61, no. 1 (2024): 60-82
“Drone Proliferation and International Relations Theory: Visions of the Future,” in De Gruyter Handbook on Drone Warfare (Boston: De Gruyter, 2024)
“The Drone Revolution: Towards a Synthesis in the Drone Debate,” European Journal of International Security (forthcoming) [with James Rogers]
Understanding International Security: Theory and Practice (Boston: Cambridge University Press, 2025) [with Michael J. Williams and Asli Peker Dogra]
Rethinking Remote Warfare: AI, Drones, and Future War (Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan, 2026) [edited with James Rogers]
The Three Body Problem and International Relations (Gainesville, FL: University of Florida Press, 2026) [edited with Wendy Whitman Cobb]