Audrey Kurth Cronin Distinguished Professor School of International Service
- Additional Positions at AU
- Distinguished Professor of International Security
- Director, Center for Security, Innovation and New Technology
- Degrees
- DPhil, International Relations, Oxford University;
MPhil, International Relations, Oxford University; and
A.B., Princeton University (summa cum laude);
Marshall Scholar - Bio
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Audrey Kurth Cronin is Distinguished Professor of International Security and founding Director of the Center for Security, Innovation, and New Technology at American University, Washington, DC.
Cronin’s best-known book is How Terrorism Ends: Understanding the Decline and Demise of Terrorist Campaigns (Princeton, 2009), which the New Yorker called a “landmark study.” Her latest book, Power to the People: How Open Technological Innovation is Arming Tomorrow’s Terrorists (Oxford, 2020), analyzes emerging technologies and devises a new framework for analyzing 21st century military innovation. It was short-listed for the Lionel Gelber prize and won the 2020 Neave prize.
Cronin was a Marshall Scholar from Princeton, earned a DPhil from Oxford, and was a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard. She has been director of the core course on War and Statecraft at the National War College, Director of Studies for the Changing Character of War program at Oxford University, and Specialist in Terrorism at the Congressional Research Service. She has also served in the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Policy and frequently advises at senior levels. She was Chairman of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Terrorism and is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
- For the Media
- To request an interview for a news story, call AU Communications at 202-885-5950 or submit a request.
AU Experts
Area of Expertise
Emerging technologies and their implications for security; terrorism and counterterrorism; international and U.S. security policy; how terrorism ends; Russia; Europe; the Middle East; North Africa; South Asia; North America
Additional Information
Audrey Kurth Cronin is Founding Director of the Center for Security, Innovation and New Technology at American University. Her career has encompassed positions in both academia and government service. From 2005 to 2007 prior to joining AU, she served as Academic Director of Studies for the Oxford/Leverhulme Programme on the Changing Character of War at the war college from Oxford University. She also has served as Specialist in Terrorism at the Congressional Research Service, responsible for advising Members of Congress in the aftermath of 9/11, and in the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Policy. She frequently consults at the most senior levels of the U.S. government. Prof. Cronin is the author of How Terrorism Ends: Understanding the Decline and Demise of Terrorist Campaigns (Princeton University Press), which The New Yorker labelled a “landmark study.” Her latest book, Power to the People: How Open Technological Innovation is Arming Tomorrow’s Terrorists (Oxford University Press, 2020), analyzes the risks and opportunities of emerging technologies including drones, robotics, 3D printing, the Internet of Things, and artificial intelligence, and particularly their use by terrorists, insurgents and other private actors. The book was included in Foreign Affairs’ “Best of 2019” list and was short-listed for the 2020 Lionel Gelber prize. Prof. Cronin’s commentary and analysis frequently appears in Foreign Affairs, International Security, Survival, BBC, CNN, NPR (Morning Edition, All Things Considered), The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, among many other media outlets.
For the Media
To request an interview for a news story, call AU Communications at 202-885-5950 or submit a request.