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
Historical Analogies and Public Support for Foreign Policy Action
By Christopher Blair, Paul Lendway, and Joshua A. Schwartz
The Conversation
AI Agents Arrived in 2025 – Here’s What Happened and the Challenges Ahead in 2026
By Thomas Şerban von Davier
Small Wars Journal
The Waiting Game: Signposts of Russia’s Coming Failure in Africa
By John Chin, Haleigh Bartos, and Aleksaundra Handrinos
Congressional Testimony
Testimony of Harry Krejsa, CMIST, Before The House Energy & Commerce Committee
Harry Krejsa
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Is Venezuela Iraq or Panama? Failure or success?
By Joshua Schwartz and Paul Lendway
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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Thurs, 03/26/2026
5pm
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Jacquelyn Schneider (with Joshua Schwartz as discussant)
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For the full list of CMIST events, check out our news and events page.