Expertise

Topics:  National and International Security, Technology and Security, Innovation, Terrorism

Industries: Security, Military, International Affairs, Government Relations

Audrey Kurth Cronin is the Trustees Professor of Security and Technology Director of the Carnegie Mellon Institute for Security and Technology. She is the award-winning author of Power to the People (Oxford University Press, 2020) and How Terrorism Ends (Princeton University Press 2009). Her research explores how governments and private actors use accessible technologies such as robotics, cyber weapons, additive manufacturing (“3-D printing”), synthetic biology, autonomous systems, and various forms of artificial intelligence. She analyzes why some lethal technologies spread (and others do not), which ones to focus on, and how to prevent individuals and private groups from adapting them for malevolent ends. She also focuses on military technological innovation, especially the contrast between 20th century military innovation and the far more rapid innovation and diffusion driven by commercial actors today.

Media Experience

Open Source Technology and Public-Private Innovation are the Key to Ukraine's Strategic Resilience | Commentary  — War on the Rocks
Ukraine’s rapid public-private technological innovation under fire has been the most remarkable characteristic of the war and a key reason for the country’s survival. Ukrainians were well prepared before the war to resist Russian psychological warfare and employ accessible technologies in novel ways. The Ukrainian government’s strength has been its ability to mobilize all of Ukrainian society and much of the world, then fight asymmetrically with superior public will, supported by fast-moving private technology companies and open source innovation.

Audrey Kurth Cronin To Lead Carnegie Mellon Institute for Security and Technology  — Carnegie Mellon University
“I am excited and honored to be directing this major university initiative, building on Carnegie Mellon University’s strengths in emerging technologies, and tying them to in-depth analyses of their wise use in national and international security,” Cronin said. “Our goal is to focus on building cross-disciplinary bridges — to reduce risks, maximize benefits and make our brilliant technologies a force for good in the world.”

United States and China are taking opposite approaches to AI | Opinion  — Fox News
China and the United States are taking opposite approaches to governing artificial intelligence, and the contrast has big implications for both their global competition and the safety of their citizens.

Marjorie Taylor Greene's Antifa Plan Trashed by Counter-Terrorism Experts  — Newsweek
Professor Audrey Kurth Cronin, an expert in international security at Carnegie Mellon University, made a similar point. "There is no legal mechanism for designating a US-based domestic group as 'terrorist.' There are many mechanisms for labeling foreign groups and actors but none for US domestic groups," Cronin told Newsweek.

War in the Digital Age, With Audrey Kurth Cronin  — Council on Foreign Relations
Audrey Kurth Cronin, distinguished professor at American University’s School of International Service and founding director of the Center for Security, Innovation and New Technology, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss how technology, innovation, and social media are shaping Russia’s war in Ukraine and what it might mean for the future.

Could Ukraine become Neutral Like Switzerland? Five things to know. Neutral Countries Today are Nonaligned—and Well-Armed | Analysis  — The Washington Post
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has countless pathways for escalation. The humanitarian situation deteriorates hourly, and Russian military challenges, including low morale, are likely to make the conflict worse. Are there any possible off-ramps?

The great realignment: Russia’s invasion leaves few sitting on the fence | Opinion  — The Hill
A month ago, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping proclaimed a “new era” in international relations. Their joint statement declared a “no limits” Sino-Russian entente would be at the vanguard of global realignment. They never anticipated such rapid change would follow, mostly at their expense.

The Nashville Bombing and Threats to Critical Infrastructure: We Saw this Coming  — War on the Rocks
If fear of 5G technology proves to be the motive for the Christmas-Day bombing in Nashville, Tennessee, no one should be surprised. The pandemic has accelerated awareness of digital technologies and given individuals, groups, and state proxies room to agitate. One result is a heightened link between violence and technology — both attacks against technology (e.g., anti-5G, anti-vaccination, anarcho-primitivism) and attacks exploiting technology (e.g., armed quadcopters, additive manufacturing, the ‘Internet of Things’). Regardless of how the Nashville bombing comes out, authorities need to strengthen their ability to meet anti-technology attacks on our vulnerable critical infrastructure, especially by looking close to home.

We are living in an age of lethal empowerment | Opinion  — The Globe and Mail
In February, 43-year-old Tobias Rathjen killed 10 people in a mass shooting in Hanau, Germany. It was an attack that demonstrated how online platforms join up neo-Nazis, incels (“involuntary celibates”), racists, xenophobes and conspiracy theorists into a global movement that appeals to weak-minded individuals. Mr. Rathjen left behind paranoid texts, a website, and an English-language YouTube video espousing white supremacism, calling for genocide and claiming secret mind-readers were controlling him.