Fiona Cunningham

Fiona Cunningham is an assistant professor of Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania. Her research interests lie at the intersection of technology and conflict, with an empirical focus on China. Fiona’s first book, Under the Nuclear Shadow: China’s Information-Age Weapons in International Security (Princeton University Press, 2025) examines China’s distinctive approach to the dilemma of coercing an adversary under the shadow of nuclear war, which relies on cyberattacks, counterspace capabilities, and precision conventional missiles as substitutes for nuclear threats. Her research has been published in International Security, Security Studies, Journal of Strategic Studies, Texas National Security Review, and has received funding from organizations including the Stanton Foundation, Ploughshares Fund, and the Smith Richardson Foundation.

Fiona held fellowships at the Renmin University of China in Beijing, the Belfer Center at Harvard University, the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University, and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Fiona received her PhD in Political Science from MIT in 2018. From 2019 to 2021, she was an assistant professor of Political Science and International Affairs at the George Washington University.