Fiona Cunningham is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania. Her research interests lie the intersection of technology and conflict, with a focus on China.

Her research has appeared in academic and popular outlets including International Security, Security Studies, The Washington Quarterly and The Texas National Security Review. Fiona has held fellowships at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Stanford’s Center for International Security and Cooperation, and Harvard’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. She conducted fieldwork in at the Renmin University of China, supported by a China Confucius Studies Program research fellowship. Her research has also been supported by the Ploughshares Fund, U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency, Asia-Pacific Foundation of Canada, Stanton Foundation, and the Smith Richardson Foundation.

Fiona holds nonresident affiliations with the MIT Security Studies Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney. She received her PhD from the Department of Political Science at MIT in 2018. Fiona also holds a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Sydney and Bachelor of Arts from UNSW, both with first class honors, and was a Research Associate in Nuclear Policy at the Lowy Institute for International Policy.