The Berkeley Risk and Security Laboratory: Emerging Technologies and International Security
Andrew Reddie, Professor
Public Policy
Applications for Spring 2025 are closed for this project.
Reflecting frontier national and international concerns, BRSL is currently focused on three research areas: Defense Analysis and Strategy, Technology, Governance, and (Inter)National Security, and Industrial Policy and Economic Competition. Across these three areas BRSL conducts analytical work, designs and fields wargames and table-top exercises, and engages with policy-makers and stakeholders in government and industry. A common theme throughout our research is examining how new technologies and capabilities—from dual-use technologies to those designed for military applications—might impact strategic stability and the prospects for international peace and security.
Defense Analysis and Strategy
Alliance Dynamics, Competitor Analysis, Systems and Capabilities, Strategy and Doctrine
Net assessment tools and methods are required now more than ever—and need to be better than ever. In this vertical, we examine some of the hardest challenges facing the governments and intergovernmental organizations across the globe:
Technology, Governance, and (Inter)National Security
Nonproliferation and Risk Reduction, Technology Governance, Technology Safety and Testing
At the same time as emerging technologies are driving new security challenges, efforts to address the manner in which they drive global insecurity are more necessary than ever—with an increasing number of relevant players. As such, we are intimately engaged in global discussions concerning the future of nuclear arms control, AI safety/governance, and broader templates of technology governance:
Industrial Policy and Economic Competition
Industrial Policy | Technology Competition | Industrial Base | Dual Purpose Technology
As technological developments are driving insecurity, countries across the world are playing an increasingly important role in shaping the global markets in both the defense sector and dual-use technologies. At the same time, the models used for driving innovation in these sectors look increasingly. We seek to characterize the industrial policies that are an increasingly important aspect of the 2020s as well as how these policies are shaped by competitive and cooperative dynamics:
Role: BRSL Research Assistants will work on one of BRSL’s main research pillars (listed above). They can expect to conduct research, contribute to literature reviews, collect data on project-related topics, aid in administrative tasks related to their projects, and take notes during project-relevant meetings, interviews, and workshops.
Qualifications: (1) Students must be organized.
(2) Strong interest in security or technology policy issues.
(3) Understanding of a research process. We strongly recommend that applicants have written at least one research paper for a college-level class (preferably in political science or related fields) and received a grade of A- or higher.
(4) Facility with Microsoft Word and Excel.
(5) Research assistants should be familiar with how to use library and electronic resources.
They should not be averse to visiting the library physically and they should be willing to show some tenacity in tracking down very specific information about particular cases.
(6) The ability to think creatively and meet deadlines is essential.
Students with research-level foreign language skills should note these on their applications.
Day-to-day supervisor for this project: Leah Walker
Hours: to be negotiated
Related website: http://brsl.berkeley.edu