dr. mackenzie brought up the israeli defense forces, and they have historically had women integrated into their operations. but even in pushing through some of their removals of gender based combat exclusions, they're having an extremely difficult time. for example, women who operate on unmanned aerial drones are allowed to employ in theater but not with infantry units. they're only allowed to stay back with artillery unit. so there is still, even amongst the most advance countries in overcoming these hurdles hurdles still remain. so i think it's a little bit naive to think all these issues are going to go away immediately. in part because of a lot of these developments are tactically driven. and so i'm very excited that came up as point of a conversation. my own research deals primarily with irregular armed groups. rebel groups, et cetera, insurgencies. and what we've seen is a lot of the developments in developing world military. for example, the sri lanka military, in response to

dr. megan mackenzie from the university of sydney. in the government international relations department. her research crosses security studies. gender studies and international development. mackenzie has published in a number of top journals on these topics including foreign affairs, parameters and security studies. her first book, female soldiers, sex, power and post conflict development includes interviews with over 50 female soldiers. mackenzie's forthcoming book, which we're excited about and lends its name to our panel today. beyond the band of brothers, the u.s. military and the myth that women can't fight. debunks core arguments to keep women out of combat roles and explores the centrality to american military identity. it is one of my favorite mini series. but i'm willing to see that happen. we also have dr. robert visiting professor and director of teaching as well as a senior faculty adviser for the georgetown institute for women peace and security. he's currently currently on leave from a position as associate professor at