My research and teaching examine how ideas about emerging technology shape national security and international relations. Bad ideas are especially interesting — and dangerous. War is a tragedy, and a catalyst for catastrophic risk. I work to make both less likely.
My early focus was biosecurity. My current focus is technology hype and its impact on artificial intelligence, quantum technology, and military cyber. Active research includes robotic and autonomous systems, AI agents for analytical wargaming, and survey experiments on attitudes about future warfare.
I do this work while directing the Cyber & Innovation Policy Institute at the U.S. Naval War College. I’m biased, but we have a fantastic team.
I combine security studies with science & technology studies, and I provide policy analysis as well as scholarship. I drafted the 2023 National Defense Science and Technology Strategy. I have also helped assess technology policy for the Royal Australian Air Force, the World Economic Forum, and the Information and Privacy Commissioner of New South Wales.
During the 2010s, I split my time between Australia and the United States. I have been a scholar at the University of Sydney, the Center for Long-Term Cybersecurity at UC Berkeley, the Institute for Security and Conflict Studies, the Griffith Asia Institute, the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University, the RAND Corporation, and Argonne National Laboratory.
I received my Ph.D. in political science and B.S. in biological chemistry, both from the University of Chicago.
The views expressed here are my own. They do not reflect the official policy or position of the U.S. Naval War College, the Department of the Navy, the Department of Defense, or the United States Government.