Faculty Fellow Fiona Cunningham

Fiona S. Cunningham is 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 current book project explains how and why China threatens to use space weapons, cyber attacks and conventional missiles as substitutes for nuclear threats in limited wars. Her research has been published in International Security, Security Studies, the Washington Quarterly, and elsewhere. She has received funding from the Stanton Foundation, Smith Richardson Foundation, and the China Confucius Studies Program. Cunningham has 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. From 2019 to 2021, she was an assistant professor of political science and international affairs at George Washington University. Cunningham received her PhD in political science from MIT in 2018.