Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon Institute for Strategy & Technology

CMU's Home for Political Science and International Relations

CMIST logo

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.

Academics

Academics

Tech & Policy

Tech & Policy

Washington Center

Washington Center
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.
2025 Diploma Ceremony
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2025 Diploma Ceremony
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US Army War College Visit
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Scientists & Strategists - Beyond the Cloud: The Rise of Edge Computing
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Scientists & Strategists - Cyber Flashpoints in Space with Laura DeNardis
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CMIST's Politics & Pie Spring 2025
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Prof. Daniel Silverman Book Launch - Seeing is Disbelieving
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Lawfully Speaking - The Revolution in Military Affairs, Law, and the Future of Warfare
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Scientists & Strategists - Civil-Military Relations: Throughout History and in Modern Times with Kori Schake
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Scientists & Strategists - How Tech Firms Shape Geopolitics with Adam Segal
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Scientists & Strategists - Influence Without Arms: The New Logic of Nuclear Deterrence with Adam Fuhrmann
Scientists & Strategists - Influence Without Arms: The New Logic of Nuclear Deterrence with Adam Fuhrmann
CMIST White Paper Launch Event with Harry Krejsa
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CMIST Digital Diplomacy Event
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At CMIST we address the challenges of new and emerging technologies through a political science lens.

2024-2025 Annual Report

The Carnegie Mellon Institute for Strategy and Technology (CMIST) has released its 2024–2025 Annual Report. This document captures the Institute's progress in its second year, following a year of new beginnings. The report showcases accelerated momentum, expanding research, and deepened impact throughout the 2024–2025 academic year. Explore the work of our dedicated community and discover how CMIST is making a difference.

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2024-2025 Annual Report

2024-2025 CMIST Annual Report

New Publication

CMIST Non-Resident Fellow, Jamie Morgan has released her first white paper, Harnessing Innovation: A Lethal Empowerment Approach to Partner-Led Deterrence in Asia. This paper explores how decentralized communications, unmanned platforms, and advanced planning tools could significantly bolster allied security in the Indo-Pacific. Morgan argues that the US defense export system, still governed by Cold War-era processes, is failing to deliver these critical technologies quickly and effectively. To remedy this, the paper presents specific, actionable policy solutions to ensure partners have timely access to innovative, dual-use systems—before they are forced to seek out foreign competitors.

Harnessing Innovation

Harnessing Innovation

Recent Work

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Securing the Race for AI
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Agents of Change

 

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Beyond Threats: How Allies and Bureaucratic Competition Shape the Initial Development of Military Cyber Capabilities

Beyond Threats: How Allies and Bureaucratic Competition Shape the Initial Development of Military Cyber Capabilities

By Nadiya Kostyuk

Framing the Exit: Pollsters, Public Opinion, and the Politics of Military Withdrawal

Framing the Exit: Pollsters, Public Opinion, and the Politics of Military Withdrawal

By Daniel Silverman and Caitlan Fealing

Popcorn and Politics: A Course on American Foreign Policy and Film

Popcorn and Politics: A Course on American Foreign Policy and Film

By Joshua A. Schwartz

Defense One

Military AI Needs Guardrails—Not to Slow It Down, But to Keep It Useful

Military AI Needs Guardrails—Not to Slow It Down, But to Keep It Useful

By Mieke Eoyang

Korea Economic Institute

Toward a U.S.–South Korea Alliance Renaissance

Toward a U.S.–South Korea Alliance Renaissance

By Patrick Cronin

The Washington Post

The unlikely partners who could recharge U.S. battery production by Harry Krejsa and Sarah Hipel

The Unlikely Partners Who Could Recharge U.S. Battery Production

By Harry Krejsa and Sarah Hipel

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Joshua A. Schwartz: Trump is wrong. Ukraine can win without attacking Russia

Joshua A. Schwartz: Trump is wrong. Ukraine can win without attacking Russia


By Joshua A. Schwartz

The Conversation

Brazil's Bolsonaro May Soon Join Ranks of Failed Coup Plotters Held to Account − Hampering the Chance of Any Political Comeback

Bolsonaro Joins a Rogues’ Gallery of Coup Plotters Held to Account for Their Failed Power Grab

By John Chin and Joe Wright

Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

The Greene Revolution: How Politicians Benefit from Conspiracies About Cloud Seeding and Weather Control

The Greene Revolution: How Politicians Benefit from Conspiracies About Cloud Seeding and Weather Control

By Justin Key Canfil

Team of Teams

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CMIST is a team of teams that works with cutting-edge Carnegie Mellon University research units, including the School of Computer Science, Cy-Lab, the Army Artificial Intelligence Integration Center, Heinz College, the Block Center, Dietrich College, the Software Engineering Institute, the Tepper School of Business, the College of Engineering, and the Engineering and Public Policy program. And CMIST’s home for its vibrant political science graduate and undergraduate academic programs is the Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences.

Public Engagements

Fall 2025 Event Term Card
Date
Event
Speaker(s)
Tues, 08/26/2025
5pm
 Scientists & Strategists - AI and National Security: The History and Future of Emerging Technology and Cybersecurity in Conflict Brigadier General (Ret.) Greg Touhill and Mieke Eoyang
Tues, 09/30/2025
5pm
 Scientists & Strategists - Digital Frontiers: Technology, Influence, and Security in Central and South America
General (Ret.) Laura Richardson and Minister Paula Bogantes Zamora
Thurs, 10/09/2025
5pm
 Lawfully Speaking - From Science to Strategy:  Navigating a Career at the Nexus of Law, Technology, and Policy 
 Lala Qadir
Thurs, 10/23/2025
5pm
 Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholars Program - Academic Freedom: From Professional Norm to First Amendment Right
Professor David Rabban
Tues, 10/28/2025
5pm
 Book Launch - Decisions: Studying and Supporting People Facing Hard Choices
Professor Baruch Fischhoff
Thurs, 11/06/2025
11am
 The US-German Strategic and Economic Partnership: Transatlantic Industry in an Age of Disruption
Thorsten Scheer and Jonathan Tubb
Tues, 11/18/2025
5pm
 Scientists & Strategists - Title & registration forthcoming
John Costello and
Thomas Şerban von Davier

 

Additional Events

 The views and opinions expressed in CMIST publications are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect any official position of CMIST or Carnegie Mellon University.