James Johnson, PhD

Welcome! I am a Senior Lecturer and Director of Strategic Studies in the Department of Politics & International Relations at the University of Aberdeen. I am the founding Director of the Strategic Studies Network (SSN), an Honorary Fellow at the University of Leicester, a Non-Resident Associate on the European Research Council-funded Towards a Third Nuclear Age project, and a Mid-Career Cadre Member with the CSIS Project on Nuclear Issues.

I advise various parts of the US, UK, and European governments on AI and nuclear policy, including the US Department of Defense, the NATO Nuclear Planning Group, the UK Office for Artificial Intelligence, and the Dutch Foreign Ministry's Global Commission on Responsible AI in the Military Domain (REAIM). Previously, I was 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 Nonproliferation Studies in Monterey, California.
 
My research examines the intersection of nuclear weapons, artificial intelligence, political psychology, and strategic affairs, with a particular focus on nuclear deterrence, crisis decision-making, and the future of warfare. My work has been published in International Affairs, Review of International Studies, The Journal of Strategic Studies, Pacific Review, RUSI Journal, Strategic Studies Quarterly, The Washington Quarterly, European Journal of International Security, War on the Rocks, and other outlets. I am the author of Artificial Intelligence & the Future of Warfare, AI and the Bomb, and The AI Commander. My forthcoming book, Machines at the Brink, examines how AI-enabled decision-support systems are reshaping nuclear deterrence, escalation management, and strategic decision-making in international crises.