My research areas

R.1 International competition in quantum technologies

Quantum technologies, particularly quantum computing and quantum communication, have attracted significant interest due to their potential strategic impact. My research explores how U.S.-Chinese competition over quantum technologies unfolds. In a paper currently under review, I apply network-analytic methods to patent data, revealing strategic patenting activity in the U.S. and China. Using an Exponential Random Graph Model (ERGM), I show that while both countries are competing fiercely, only a small number of innovations drive the quantum race. My findings challenge the notion that the U.S. is losing the race, suggesting that the quantum technology landscape is more nuanced than current discourse implies.

A second paper, currently under review, focuses on Europe’s role in the quantum competition. I investigate how the UK, France, and Germany are shaping quantum technology policy, theorizing that France and Germany's cooperation is critical to Europe’s technological sovereignty. However, national competition complicates this dynamic. This research demonstrates how European actors are both collaborators and competitors, adding complexity to the strategic competition between the West and China.

R.2 Global Governance of the Internet of the Future

My second line of research addresses the global governance challenges posed by the next-generation internet. My work explores how the U.S., China, and Russia are positioning themselves to shape internet standards, with significant implications for privacy, cybersecurity, and geopolitical power.

In a paper currently under review, I analyze China’s “New IP” proposal, which aimed to overhaul the internet’s infrastructure. Through formal modeling, I explore the conditions for China to win a major standards war. The paper highlights the importance of network effects in international internet governance and suggests that cooperation in some areas might allow countries to compete more robustly in others.

Additionally, I am curious about the security implications of undersea optical fiber cables, a critical but underexplored aspect of internet infrastructure that may become a prime target in future conflicts.

R.3 Emerging Technologies and Strategic Stability

My third research area focuses on how emerging technologies like quantum computing, AI, and hypersonics affect strategic stability and (cyber)security. In collaboration with colleagues at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the University of California, San Diego, I have worked on a series of briefing papers for USSTRATCOM, examining how perceptions of these technologies shape deterrence dynamics.

Book

My manuscript, Shaping The Quantum Internet, which develops the major themes of my PhD thesis, is in progress. 

Journal Articles

“Strategic Stability and Emerging Russian and Chinese Technologies,” with Spenser A. Warren and Kimberly Peh, In Production. 

“Quantifying the Quantum Innovation Race: preferential treatment, coreness and tie formation in US and Chinese quantum technology patent networks,” Under Review. 

“Quantum of Sovereignty: the national quantum strategies of the UK, France and Germany amidst Europe’s new security environment.” Under Review.

“'New IP' and old dilemmas: The Risks of Containing a Rival's Superior Internet Technology,” Under Review.

“Collective Intentionality and the (Re)Production of Social Norms: The Scope for a Critical Social Science,” Philosophy of the Social Sciences, Volume 42, Issue 3, https://doi.org/10.1177/0048393111399100, September 2012. 

Edited Volumes and Book Chapters

“Adorno’s sociological project” (with Matthias Benzer), in: The Oxford Handbook of Adorno (ed. by Henry Pickford and Martin Shuster), Oxford University Press, forthcoming.

“Exposing Antagonisms: Adorno on the Possibilities of Sociology” (with Matthias Benzer), in: A Companion to Adorno (ed. by Peter E. Gordon, Espen Hammer and Max Pensky), Wiley-Blackwell, https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119146940.ch18, January 2020.

“Erosion of Sovereign Control: Deliberation, ‘We-Reasoning,’ and the Legitimacy of Norms and Standards in a Globalized World” (with Markus Scholz), in: Understanding Ethics and Responsibilities in a Globalizing World (ed. by Maria Cecilia Coutinho de Arruda and Boleslaw Rok), Springer, November 2016.

Policy Briefs

“Emerging Technologies and Strategic Stability: How Technological Capabilities and Perceptions Drive the Strategic Impact of Novel Technology,” with Spenser A. Warren and Kimberly Peh, USSTRATCOM J5 Briefing Paper, August 2024.

“The Quantum Race: U.S.-Chinese Competition for Leadership in Quantum Technologies”, UC IGCC Policy Brief, March 2024.

“Quantum Technologies Insights Paper” (lead author). Digital Regulation Cooperation Forum (CMA, FCA, ICA, Ofcom), UK Government, June 2023. 

“Trusted autonomous systems in defence. A policy landscape review”, King’s College London and Trustworthy Autonomous Systems Hub, doi.org/10.18742/pub01-063, November 2021. 

Op-eds and Commentary

“The UN has passed a resolution to make AI safer. It should do the same for quantum”, Hertie School Centre for Digital Governance, September 2024.

“Generative AI Makes Demonstrating Quantum Advantage Harder — For Quantum Computing, That’s Actually Good News”, The Quantum Insider, April 2024.

“The Quantum Internet: a network for all?,” IPPI Explainer, May 2021.

“The Quantum Threat: why we need regulation and transparency,” about:intel, February 2021.

“Security implications of novel quantum information technologies,” Explainer, Heinrich Boell Foundation Brussels, June 2020.

“Sicherheitspolitische Herausforderungen neuer Quanten-Informationstechnologien,” (in German). Heinrich Böll Stiftung Berlin, Referat Außen- und Sicherheitspolitik, June 2020.