CMU's home for Political Science and International Relations, CMIST is an interdisciplinary institute that works across Carnegie Mellon University to tackle the risks and benefits of emerging technologies in war and peace.
The Carnegie Mellon Institute for Strategy & Technology, or "CMIST," is a university-wide initiative dedicated to the wise development, use and governance of new and emerging technologies that are changing war and peace. The home for Carnegie Mellon University’s study of Political Science and International Relations, CMIST is uniquely poised to take advantage of the university’s strengths in computer science and engineering, and its distinctive tradition of cross-university, cross-disciplinary research. Focused on questions of power and governance, CMIST builds new frameworks for managing global and national security challenges.
2024-2025 Annual Report
At CMIST we address the challenges of new and emerging technologies through a political science lens.
Recent Work
Harry Krejsa, John Costello, and Phoebe Benich illustrate how the US may be repeating its 5G-era failures by allowing China to dominate the global AI market with "good enough," cheap alternatives in their recent commentary, America Lost the 5G Race. It's About to Lose AI the Same Way. While American labs lead in technical superiority, Chinese firms like DeepSeek provide free, open-source models that are rapidly winning over price-sensitive emerging markets. During the 5G race, time, expense, and restrictive diplomatic response pushed developing nations toward Chinese infrastructure, a pattern currently being repeated in the AI sector. To avoid this, the authors argue that the US must change its approach and support a diverse ecosystem that includes affordable, open-source models.
READ COMMENTARY
Convergent Flexibility: How International Law Keeps Pace with Technological Change
By Justin Key Canfil
Strategic Interdependence: Using Internet Outage Data to Study How Combatants Manage Collective Institutions During War
By Nadiya Kostyuk et al.
Delegating Destruction: Coercive Threats and Automated Nuclear Systems
By Joshua A. Schwartz and Michael C. Horowitz
Institute for America, China, and the Future of Global Affairs
The United States and China Can Improve Cybersecurity Globally
By Mieke Eoyang
War on the Rocks
Testing Denial: The Philippine Alliance in America’s First Island Chain Strategy
By Patrick Cronin and Nathaniel Uy
Modern War Institute
Tell Me How this Ends: Six Questions that Will Shape the Outcome of the US-Israeli Operations against Iran
By Sydney Laite, Haleigh Bartos, and Buckley DeJardin
The Conversation
AI Agents Arrived in 2025 – Here’s What Happened and the Challenges Ahead in 2026
By Thomas Şerban von Davier
Congressional Testimony
Testimony of Harry Krejsa, CMIST, Before The House Energy & Commerce Committee
Harry Krejsa
Team of Teams
Public Engagements
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Date
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Event
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Speaker(s)
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Thurs, 02/26/2026
5pm
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Scientists & Strategists - Geopolitics of AI Supply Chains | Chris Miller |
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Thurs, 03/12/2026
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Lawfully Speaking - The Double Black Box: National Security, Artificial Intelligence, and the Struggle for Democratic Accountability | Ashley Deeks |
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Fri, 3/13/2026
11am
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Thurs, 03/26/2026
5pm
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Jacquelyn Schneider (with Joshua Schwartz as discussant)
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Thurs, 4/2/2026
5pm
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Geopolitics in the Age of AI - Venezuela, Oil, and Democracy: Lessons for the World |
Luis Henrique Ball
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For the full list of CMIST events, check out our news and events page.