
James Johnson, PhD
Welcome! I am a Lecturer in Strategic Studies in the Department of Politics & International Relations at the University of Aberdeen. I am also an Honorary Fellow at the University of Leicester, a Non-Resident Associate on the Towards a Third Nuclear Age ERC-funded project, and a Mid-Career Cadre with the CSIS Project on Nuclear Issues. I was previously an Assistant Professor at Dublin City University, a Non-Resident Fellow with the Modern War Institute at West Point, and a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the James Martin Center for Non-Proliferation Studies in Monterey, CA.
My research examines the intersection of nuclear weapons, deterrence, strategic stability, great power competition, and emerging technology – especially artificial intelligence. My work has been featured in Journal of Strategic Studies, Pacific Review, Asian Security, Journal of Cyber Policy, RUSI Journal, Strategic Studies Quarterly, The Washington Quarterly, European Journal of International Security, Comparative Strategy, Defense & Security Analysis, War on the Rocks, and other outlets. I am the author of The US-China Military & Defense Relationship during the Obama Presidency (2018), and Artificial Intelligence & the Future of Warfare: USA, China, and strategic stability (2021). My latest book project with Oxford University Press is entitled AI & the Bomb: Nuclear strategy and risk in the digital age.
I hold a PhD in Politics & International Relations from the University of Leicester. Before entering academia, I worked in the financial sector for two decades, mostly in China. I am fluent in Mandarin.