Dr James Johnson

Honorary Visiting Fellow

james.johnson@abdn.ac.uk

Twitter: @James_SJohnson

Website: http://www.jamesjohnsonphd.com

Personal details

BA (Bristol)
MA (Leeds)
PhD (Leicester)

Dr James Johnson is a Lecturer in Strategic Studies in the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Aberdeen. James is also an Honorary Fellow at the University of Leicester, a Non-Resident Associate on the ERC-funded Towards a Third Nuclear Age Project, and a Mid-Career Cadre with the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Project on Nuclear Issues. Previously, James 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, CA. He holds a PhD in Politics and International Relations from the University of Leicester. James is fluent in Mandarin.

James’s research examines the intersection of nuclear weapons, deterrence, strategic stability, great power competition, and emerging technology – especially artificial intelligence. His work has featured in The Journal of Strategic Studies, Pacific Review, Asian Security, European Journal of International Security, Journal of Cyber Policy, RUSI Journal, Strategic Studies Quarterly, The Washington Quarterly, Comparative Strategy, Defense & Security Analysis, War on the Rocks, and other outlets.

James is the author of The US-China Military & Defense Relationship during the Obama Presidency (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018), and Artificial Intelligence & the Future of Warfare: USA, China, and strategic stability (Manchester University Press, 2021). James’s latest book project is entitled Artificial Intelligence & the Bomb: Nuclear strategy and risk in the digital age – under contract with Oxford University Press.

Research Interests

Artificial intelligence and nuclear weapons
Strategic affairs
US-China strategic relations
Emerging technology and future warfare
Nuclear non-proliferation and arms control

Supervision

I am interested in supervising projects in the broad areas of Security & Strategic Studies, Emerging Technology & Future Warfare, U.S.-China Relations, Rising Powers, Nuclear Strategy, Chinese Foreign Policy, and East Asian Security.