The Center for Security, Innovation, and New Technology at the School of International Service at American University is an interdisciplinary research hub designed to address the wide-ranging impacts of new technologies and non-traditional threats. Our participants are experts in fields ranging from cyber security, great power conflict, malicious nonstate actors, climate impacts, global health security, data analytics, and technological innovation. The center engages students and professionals in cross-cultural dialogue on the advantages and disadvantages of emerging technologies across the globe. We are committed to a balanced, forward-thinking approach that fosters serious engagement about the future impacts of technology across a broad spectrum of fields.

People

Director

Professor Audrey Kurth Cronin is one of the world’s leading experts on security and how conflicts end. Her career incorporates experience in both academic and policy positions, both in the US and abroad. Before joining American University in 2016, she was founding Director of the International Security Program at George Mason University. Previously, she worked as a Specialist in Terrorism at the Congressional Research Service, advising Members of Congress in the aftermath of 9/11. She also held a number of positions in the US executive branch, including in the office of the Secretary of Defense for Policy, and was Director of Studies for Oxford University’s Changing Character of War program. She has been Chairman of the Global Agenda Council of the World Economic Forum and a frequent speaker at the WEF’s annual meeting in Davos. She is the author of dozens of articles and numerous books, notably including How Terrorism Ends: Understanding the Decline and Demise of Terrorist Campaigns (Princeton University Press, 2009).

Co-Director

Joshua Rovner is Associate Professor in the School of International Service at American University. He is currently Scholar-in-Residence at the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command. Dr. Rovner's research focuses on intelligence and strategy. He is the author of Fixing the Facts: National Security and the Politics of Intelligence (Cornell University Press, 2011); and the co-editor of Chaos in the Liberal Order: The Trump Presidency and International Politics in the 21st Century (Columbia University Press, 2018). His recent scholarship explores issues surrounding new technologies and international security, including offensive cyberspace operations in peace and war, deterrence and emerging nuclear powers, and how the information revolution affects intelligence.

Associated Faculty