Alex Wilner

Dr. Alex S. Wilner is a tenured Associate Professor of International Affairs at the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs (NPSIA) at Carleton University in Ottawa. He teaches classes on terrorism and radicalization, national and cyber security, intelligence studies, and a capstone course on Canadian security policy. Capstone partners have included the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC), Public Safety Canada, Global Affairs Canada, the Bank of Canada, Policy Horizons Canada, and Ontario’s Office of the Provincial Security Advisor. Dr. Wilner also developed and teaches a course on strategic foresight in international security, in which graduate students explore the future of weaponry, state conflict, terrorism, criminality, cybersecurity, and other contemporary issues. Dr. Wilner’s academic research focuses on the application of deterrence theory to contemporary security issues like terrorism, radicalization, organized crime, cyber threats, and proliferation. His books include Deterrence by Denial (Cambria Press, 2021), Deterring Rational Fanatics (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2015) and Deterring Terrorism: Theory and Practice (eds., Stanford University Press, 2012). He has published articles in International Security, the New York University Journal of International Law and Politics, Security Studies, the Journal for Deradicalization, the Journal of Strategic Studies, Comparative Strategy, International Journal, and Studies in Conflict and Terrorism.

Since joining NPSIA in 2015, his broader scholarship has been awarded over $1 million (CAD) in external research funding: he was awarded a Government of Canada SSHRC Insight Development Grant (2016-2017), a prestigious SSHRC Insight Grant (2020-2025), and a Government of Ontario Early Researcher Award (2021-2026) to study state and non-state cyber deterrence; two major IDEaS grants (2018-2021) and several MINDS grants (2019, 2020) from the Department of National Defence to explore Artificial Intelligence (AI) and deterrence; several smaller research grants from the Canadian Network on Terrorism, Security, and Society (TSAS); and a major Mitacs grant (2020-2022) to explore emerging technology and Canadian defence policy and strategy.

In November 2017, with support from the Department of National Defence, Policy Horizons Canada, and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, he organized a workshop – The Ottawa Workshop on Strategic Foresight: Charting the Future of Technology and National Security and Defence Priorities – exploring the utility of using strategic foresight in intelligence, national security and foreign policy planning, and academic research. Over 50 Canadian public servants active in foresight attended. Dr. Wilner has likewise provided foresight and academic services to a number of other government departments and agencies, including Public Safety, FINTRAC, Global Affairs Canada, the Department of National Defence, the Special Senate Committee on Anti-Terrorism, the Canada School of Public Service, and various members of Canada’s intelligence community. He advises the RCMP’s new foresight initiative and regularly leads foresight training workshops throughout the Government of Canada.

Prior to joining NPSIA, Dr. Wilner worked at Policy Horizons Canada, the Government of Canada’s foresight centre, where he gained invaluable experience applying foresight to public policy. He was one of the principle authors of Horizons’ “Geostrategic Cluster Findings – The Future of Asia”, and contributed to MetaScan 4: The Future of Asia, a Horizons flagship publication. He has also held a variety of positions at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto, the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) at the University of Maryland, and the ETH Zurich in Switzerland. He is a Munk Senior Fellow at the MacDonald-Laurier Institute, is on the Board of Directors of The Canadian Association for Security and Intelligence Studies (CASIS), and a member of the Executive Committee of the Canadian Network for Research on Terrorism, Security, and Society (TSAS). Dr. Wilner lives in Ottawa with his wife and three daughters.