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Dr James Johnson is a Lecturer (Assistant Professor) and Director of Strategic Studies in the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Aberdeen. He is also an Honorary Fellow at the University of Leicester, a Non-Resident Research Associate on the European Research Council funded Towards a Third Nuclear Age Project, and a Mid-Career Cadre Member with the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Project on Nuclear Issues. He advises various parts of the US, UK, and EU governments on AI and nuclear policy, including the US Department of Defense Office of the Joint Staffs, the UK Office for Artificial Intelligence, and the Dutch Foreign Ministry's Global Commission on Responsible AI in the Military Domain (REAIM). Previously, he 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, USA. His research examines the intersection of nuclear weapons, artificial intelligence, political psychology, and strategic affairs. His work has been featured in Journal of Strategic Studies, The Washington Quarterly, Strategic Studies Quarterly, Defence Studies, European Journal of International Security, Asian Security, Pacific Review, Journal for Peace & Nuclear Disarmament, Defense and Security Analysis, RUSI Journal, Journal of Cyber Policy, Journal of Military Ethics, War on the Rocks, and other outlets. He is the author of AI and the Bomb: Nuclear Strategy and Risk in the Digital Age (Oxford University Press, 2023), Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Warfare: USA, China & Strategic Stability (Manchester University Press, 2021), and The US-China Military & Defense Relationship During the Obama Presidency (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018). His latest book is The AI Commander: Centaur Teaming, Command, and Ethical Dilemmas (Oxford University Press, 2024).

Experience

  • –present
    Honorary Fellow, University of Leicester
  • 2019–present
    Postdoctoral research fellow, The James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies

Education

  • 2016 
    University of Leicester, PhD
  • 2011 
    University of Leeds, MA
  • 1997 
    University of Bristol , BA