Dr. Melanie Garson

Dr Melanie Garson is the Cyber Policy and Tech Geopolitics Lead at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change.

Her work focuses on cyber resilience policy, the geopolitics of the internet, space, AI, and compute, the rise of tech companies as geopolitical actors, data governance as well as the intersection of disruptive tech, foreign policy, defence and diplomacy. She is also an Associate Professor in International Conflict Resolution & International Security in the Department of Political Science at University College London where she teaches her flagship course “From Cyberwarfare to Robots” that examines the impact of new and emerging technologies on the future of defence and security. She also teaches courses on international negotiation and tech diplomacy.

Melanie presents regularly at international conferences globally on the implications of cyber, AI and emerging technologies on geopolitics and foreign policy, as well as provides commentary in podcasts, webinars and at major media outlets including Bloomberg, BBC, Sky, CNBC, CNN, Fox News, France 24, and DeutscheWelle.

Melanie is an accredited mediator and prior to joining UCL worked as a solicitor in the International Disputes department of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, covering Public International Law, International Arbitration, and International Corporate Investigations, as well as teaching mediation and negotiation techniques.