Joshua Hyung-Joon Byun

Joshua Byun is the 2025-2026 Stanton Nuclear Security Fellow in the MIT Security Studies Program. He is an assistant professor of political science at Boston College. His research focuses on questions related to grand strategy, alliance politics, and nuclear weapons. Joshua’s first book, under contract with Cornell University Press (Cornell Studies in Security Affairs series), examines the success and failure of grand strategy in the context of military alliances. It argues that a leading power may fail to promote its desired military capabilities among smaller allies because the demands of its grand strategy clash with the risks presented to the allies by a hostile great power that is scrutinizing the alliance’s actions. When push comes to shove, allies must calibrate their military choices primarily with an eye toward how vulnerable they are to the adversary’s countermeasures, even if this means frustrating the leading power’s grand strategic plans.

Joshua’s broader research interests center on topics such as preventive war, the relationship between power politics and international norms, and the performative uses of violence by state and nonstate actors. Some of his research has appeared in outlets such as the American Political Science Review, International Studies Quarterly, Texas National Security Review, and Contemporary Security Policy. His policy commentary has been featured in forums like Foreign Affairs and Foreign Policy. Joshua received his PhD in political science from the University of Chicago in August 2022. Prior to beginning his academic career, he served as the personal interpreter to South Korea’s Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.