Dr James Johnson
Senior Lecturer
- About
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- Email Address
- james.johnson@abdn.ac.uk
- Office Address
Room G23, Edward Wright Building
- School/Department
- School of Social Science
Biography
Dr James Johnson is a Senior Lecturer and Director of Strategic Studies in the Department of Politics & International Relations at the University of Aberdeen. He is the founding Director of the Strategic Studies Network (SSN). 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 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, the NATO Nuclear Planning Group, and the 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, California.
His research examines the intersection of nuclear weapons, artificial intelligence, political psychology, and strategic affairs, with a current focus on how AI decision-support systems are reshaping nuclear stability and crisis decision-making. His work has been featured in the Review of International Studies, Journal of Strategic Studies, The Washington Quarterly, Strategic Studies Quarterly, the European Journal of International Security, Pacific Review, RUSI Journal, Journal of Military Ethics, War on the Rocks, and other outlets. He is the author of The AI Commander: Centaur Teaming, Command, and Ethical Dilemmas (OUP, 2024), AI and the Bomb: Nuclear Strategy and Risk in the Digital Age (OUP, 2023), Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Warfare: USA, China & Strategic Stability (MUP, 2021), and The US-China Military & Defense Relationship During the Obama Presidency (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018). He received his PhD from the University of Leicester and is fluent in Mandarin.
Memberships and Affiliations
- Internal Memberships
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- Director of Strategic Studies
- Social Sciences PG Committee, Member
- Social Sciences Research Committee, Member
- PIR PG Staff Student Liaison Committee, Member
- PIR PG Exam Board Committee, Member
- Personal Tutor
- External Memberships
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- Honorary Visiting Fellow, University of Leicester
- Non-Resident Associate, "The Towards a Third Nuclear Age: Strategic Conventional Weapons and the Next Revolution in the Global Nuclear Order," European Research Council (ERC) funded project
- Mid-Career Cadre, Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS), Project on Nuclear Issues
- Non-Resident Expert, US Department of Defense (DoD) Office of the Joint Staff’s Strategic Multilayer Assessment (SMA) program
- Expert Advisory Group Member, the Global Commission on Responsible AI in the Military Domain (REAIM), Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Security Policy Department
- British International Studies Association, Member
- International Studies Association, Member
Latest Publications
Can AI behave ethically during military crises? Preserving human moral agency
International Affairs, vol. 102, no. 1, pp. 63-83Contributions to Journals: ArticlesArtificial Intelligence and Nuclear Stability: Understanding AI’s Impact on Military Escalation Dynamics and Strategic Deterrence
The Hague: The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies. 10 pagesBooks and Reports: Commissioned ReportsRevisiting the “Stability-Instability Paradox” in AI-enabled Warfare: A modern-day Promethean tragedy under the nuclear shadow?
Review of International Studies, pp. 1-19Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0260210524000767
Post-9/11 US thinking and approaches to nuclear deterrence: the Bush Doctrine and the role of nuclear weapons in US deterrence strategy
International Politics, vol. 61, no. 3, pp. 547–566Contributions to Journals: ArticlesIs there a Human in the Machine? AI and Future Warfare
War on the RocksContributions to Specialist Publications: Articles
- Research
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Research Overview
- Strategic affairs
- Artificial intelligence & future warfare
- Political psychology
- Nuclear weapons policy & non-proliferation
Current Research
Project: AI and the Future of Nuclear Stability & Crisis Decision-Making
This project addresses a critical yet underexplored threat to nuclear stability: the integration of generative AI (GenAI) and AI-enabled decision support systems (GenAI-DSS) into nuclear command-and-control architectures and their deployment in high-stakes strategic environments. Nuclear-armed states are increasingly exploring AI tools to simulate crises, forecast adversary behavior, and guide national security decision-making. While these systems promise enhanced foresight and accelerated decision processes, they also introduce novel cognitive, ethical, and institutional risks. In particular, GenAI-DSS may distort perception, generate misleading signals, and heighten the risk of miscalculation or inadvertent escalation during nuclear crises. This project seeks to diagnose these risks, develop anticipatory mitigation strategies, and inform policy frameworks before GenAI becomes deeply embedded in strategic decision-making.
Funding: This project is supported by Longview Philanthropy.
- Teaching
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Teaching Responsibilities
- Director of Strategic Studies
- Director & Founder of the Strategic Studies Wargaming Club
- Director & Founder of the Strategic Studies Network (SSN)
- Publications
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Can AI behave ethically during military crises? Preserving human moral agency
International Affairs, vol. 102, no. 1, pp. 63-83Contributions to Journals: ArticlesArtificial Intelligence and Nuclear Stability: Understanding AI’s Impact on Military Escalation Dynamics and Strategic Deterrence
The Hague: The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies. 10 pagesBooks and Reports: Commissioned ReportsRevisiting the “Stability-Instability Paradox” in AI-enabled Warfare: A modern-day Promethean tragedy under the nuclear shadow?
Review of International Studies, pp. 1-19Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0260210524000767
Post-9/11 US thinking and approaches to nuclear deterrence: the Bush Doctrine and the role of nuclear weapons in US deterrence strategy
International Politics, vol. 61, no. 3, pp. 547–566Contributions to Journals: ArticlesIs there a Human in the Machine? AI and Future Warfare
War on the RocksContributions to Specialist Publications: ArticlesThe AI Commander: Centaur Teaming, Command, and Ethical Dilemmas
Oxford University Press, Oxford. 224 pagesBooks and Reports: BooksFinding AI Faces in the Moon and Armies in the Clouds: Anthropomorphising Artificial Intelligence in Military Human-Machine Interactions
Global Society, vol. 38, no. 1, pp. 67-82Contributions to Journals: ArticlesProceed with Caution: Artificial Intelligence in Weapon Systems
Commissioned by House of Lords. London, UK: House of Lords. 100 pagesBooks and Reports: Commissioned ReportsNuclear Brinkmanship in AI-Enabled Warfare: A Dangerous Algorithmic Game of Chicken
War on the RocksContributions to Specialist Publications: ArticlesUnderstanding the Humanitarian Consequences and Risks of Nuclear Weapons: New findings from recent scholarship
Vienna: Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs Department for Disarmament. 116 pagesBooks and Reports: Commissioned ReportsThe Challenges of AI Command and Control
European Leadership NetworkContributions to Specialist Publications: ArticlesAI and the Bomb: Nuclear strategy and risk in the digital age
Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. 288 pagesBooks and Reports: Books- [ONLINE] https://academic.oup.com/book/45682?searchresult=1
- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780192858184.001.0001
- [ONLINE] OUP Website
The AI Commander Problem: Ethical, Political, and Psychological Dilemmas of Human-Machine Interactions in AI-enabled Warfare
Journal of Military Ethics , vol. 23, no. 3-4, pp. 246-271Contributions to Journals: ArticlesThe US, Indo-Pacific, AI and Emerging Security Technologies
Routledge Handbook of US policy in the Indo-Pacific. Turner, O., Aslam, W., Nymalm, N. (eds.). RoutledgeChapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: ChaptersInadvertent Escalation in the Age of Intelligence Machines: A new model for nuclear risk in the digital age
European Journal of International Security , vol. 7, no. 3, pp. 337-359Contributions to Journals: ArticlesAI, Autonomy, and the Risk of Nuclear War
War on the RocksContributions to Specialist Publications: ArticlesAutomating the OODA Loop in the Age of AI
Center for Strategic and International StudiesContributions to Specialist Publications: ArticlesCounterfactual Thinking & Nuclear Risk in the Digital Age: The Role of Uncertainty, Complexity, Chance, and Human Psychology
Journal for Peace and Nuclear Disarmament, vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 394-421Contributions to Journals: ArticlesAutomating the OODA loop in the age of intelligent machines: reaffirming the role of humans in command-and-control decision-making in the digital age
Defence Studies, vol. 23, no. 1, pp. 43-67Contributions to Journals: ArticlesDelegating strategic decision-making to machines: Dr. Strangelove redux?
The Journal of Strategic Studies, vol. 45, no. 3, pp. 439-477Contributions to Journals: ArticlesEscalation to Nuclear War in the Digital Age: RISK OF INADVERTENT ESCALATION IN THE EMERGING INFORMATION ECOSYSTEM
Modern War Institute at West PointContributions to Specialist Publications: ArticlesDoes the United States face a multipolar future? Washington's response through the lens of technology
National perspectives on a multipolar order: Interrogating the global power transition. Zala, B. (ed.). 1st edition. Manchester University Press, pp. 26-40, 15 pagesChapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: ChaptersArtificial intelligence and the future of warfare: The USA, China, and strategic stability
Manchester University Press, London, UK. 240 pagesBooks and Reports: BooksArtificial Intelligence, Autonomy, and the Risk of Catalytic Nuclear War
Modern War Institute at West PointContributions to Specialist Publications: ArticlesRethinking Nuclear Deterrence in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
Modern War Institute at West PointContributions to Specialist Publications: Articles‘Catalytic nuclear war’ in the age of artificial intelligence & autonomy: Emerging military technology and escalation risk between nuclear-armed states
The Journal of Strategic StudiesContributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/01402390.2020.1867541
- [ONLINE] Link to AAM at Dublin City University
Deterrence in the age of artificial intelligence and autonomy: a paradigm shift in nuclear deterrence theory and practice?
Defense & Security Analysis, vol. 36, no. 4, pp. 422-448Contributions to Journals: ArticlesEmerging Technologies and Chinese Challenges to US Innovation Leadership
Emerging Technologies and International Security: Machines, the State and War. Steff, R., Soare, S., Burton, J. (eds.). 1 edition. Routledge, pp. 29-48, 20 pagesChapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780367808846
AI and the Bomb: Nuclear Command & Control in the Age of the Algorithm
Modern War Institute at West PointContributions to Specialist Publications: ArticlesArtificial intelligence: a threat to strategic stability
Strategic Studies Quarterly, vol. 14, no. 1, pp. 16Contributions to Journals: ArticlesAI, Cyberspace, and Nuclear Weapons
War on the RocksContributions to Specialist Publications: ArticlesArtificial intelligence, drone swarming and escalation risks in future warfare
RUSI Journal, vol. 165, no. 2, pp. 26-36Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/03071847.2020.1752026
- [ONLINE] AM in Dublin City University Repository
Artificial intelligence in nuclear warfare: a perfect storm of instability?
The Washington Quarterly, vol. 43, no. 2, pp. 197-211Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/0163660X.2020.1770968
The AI-cyber nexus: implications for military escalation, deterrence, & strategic stability
Journal of Cyber Policy, vol. 4, no. 3, pp. 442-460Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/23738871.2019.1701693
Is the US Losing the Artificial Intelligence Arms Race?
The ConversationContributions to Specialist Publications: ArticlesThe end of military-techno Pax Americana? Washington’s strategic responses to Chinese AI-enabled military technology
Pacific Review, vol. 34, no. 3, pp. 351-378Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09512748.2019.1676299
Artificial intelligence and future warfare: implications for international security
Defense & Security Analysis, vol. 35, no. 2, pp. 147-169Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14751798.2019.1600800
China’s Vision of the Future Network-Centric Battlefield: Cyber, Space and Electromagnetic Asymmetric Challenges to the United States
Comparative Strategy, vol. 37, no. 5, pp. 373-390Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/01495933.2018.1526563
Chinese evolving approaches to nuclear “war-fighting”: an emerging Intense US-China security dilemma and threats to crisis stability in the Asia Pacific
Asian Security , vol. 15, no. 3, pp. 215-232Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14799855.2018.1443915
The 2019 UK PONI Papers: VIII. The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Strategic Stability, Escalation, and Nuclear security
London, UK: Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies. 5 pagesBooks and Reports: Commissioned ReportsChina and the US are Racing to Develop AI Weapons
The ConversationContributions to Specialist Publications: ArticlesChina’s Vision of the Future Networked Battlefield: Emerging Military-Technological Challenges to the United States
The US-China Military and Defense Relationship during the Obama Presidency. Springer International PublishingChapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: ChaptersChinese Evolving Approaches to Nuclear ‘War-Fighting’: An Emerging Security Dilemma?
The US-China Military and Defense Relationship during the Obama Presidency. Springer International PublishingChapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: ChaptersConceptualizing the United States--China Security Dilemma
The US-China Military and Defense Relationship during the Obama Presidency. Springer International PublishingChapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters‘Guam Express’ and ‘Carrier Killers’: China’s Asymmetric Missile Threat to the United States in the Pacific
The US-China Military and Defense Relationship during the Obama Presidency. Springer International PublishingChapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: ChaptersIntroduction: Obama’s ‘Pivot’ to Asia and Air-Sea Battle
The US-China Military and Defense Relationship during the Obama Presidency. Springer International PublishingChapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: ChaptersThe US-China military and defense relationship during the Obama presidency
Palgrave Macmillan, New York, NY. 198 pagesBooks and Reports: BooksWashington’s Perceptions and Misperceptions of China’s Anti-access Area Denial ‘Strategy’
The US-China Military and Defense Relationship during the Obama Presidency. Springer International PublishingChapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: ChaptersChina’s Evolving Approach to Nuclear War-Fighting
The DiplomatContributions to Specialist Publications: ArticlesChina's “Guam Express” and “Carrier Killers”: The Anti-Ship Asymmetric Challenge to the US in the Western Pacific
Comparative Strategy, vol. 36, no. 4, pp. 319-332Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] https://doi.org/10.1080/01495933.2017.1361204
- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/01495933.2017.1361204
China’s Nuclear Modernisation:: The Evolution of Chinese Nuclear Doctrine, Strategic Ambiguities & Implications for Sino-U.S. Relations
Nuclear Politics in Asia. Kouhi Esfahani, M., Mohammadi, A. (eds.). 1st edition. Routledge, 20 pagesChapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters- [ONLINE] Nuclear Politics in Asia
If Trump is Bluffing on North Korea the Results could be Catastrophic
The ConversationContributions to Specialist Publications: ArticlesChina’s Nuclear Modernisation: The Evolution of Chinese Nuclear Doctrine, Strategic Ambiguities and Implications for Sino-US Relations
Nuclear politics in Asia. Esfahani, M. K., Mohammadi, A. (eds.). Routledge, 29 pagesChapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315229119
High-Tech China-US Arms Race Threatens to Destabilize East Asia
The ConversationContributions to Specialist Publications: ArticlesChina’s Vision of the Future Networked Battlefield
The DiplomatContributions to Specialist Publications: ArticlesChina’s Nuclear Weapons Policy could be about to Radically Change
The ConversationContributions to Specialist Publications: ArticlesThe US-China Military and Defence Relationship during the First Obama Administration 2009-2013: Deteriorating Military Relations in the Asia Pacific, Washington’s Strategic and Military Responses and Security Dilemma Explanations
University of Leicester.Other Contributions: Other ContributionsWashington's perceptions and misperceptions of Beijing's anti-access area-denial (A2-AD) ‘strategy’: Implications for military escalation control and strategic stability
Pacific Review, vol. 30, no. 3, pp. 271-288Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09512748.2016.1239129
