Dr Melanie Garson

Associate Professor (Teaching) in International Conflict Resolution & International Security
Email: m.garson@ucl.ac.uk
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Biography

I have been teaching International Conflict Resolution & International Security in the Department of Political Science at UCL since 2011. I am also the Cyber Policy Lead in the Internet Policy Unit at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, working on cybersecurity policy, tech and internet geopolitics, tech diplomacy, and tech and foreign policy. 

I am 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.

I have also worked as Director of Development and New Programmes for the Centre for Jewish Arab Economic Development (Israel), Director of Communications for Peaceworks LLC (New York), as well as for the People-to-People department of the Economic Cooperation Foundation (Israel), and the Education Programmes Department for the United Nations Association of the USA (New York).

I received my PhD from UCL, and hold a Master’s in Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy (Medford, MA), specialising in conflict resolution and negotiation. I have a BA (Hons) in Oriental Studies (Girton College, Cambridge), a Postgraduate Diploma in Law, and I am a qualified solicitor under the Law Society of England and Wales.

Research

My research currently focuses on the impact of new and emerging technologies on international relations and international security, particularly cyber security and cyber resilience, as well as the geopolitics of the internet, tech diplomacy, artificial intelligence, and information disorder. Recent publications have examined the role of tech companies as geopolitical actors, as well as how leaders can build a tech-forward foreign policy, and the cyber dimensions of the Ukraine conflict.

I have a longstanding interest and experience in the role of inter-group reconciliation and the reversal of hatred narratives in conflict resolution and negotiation, particularly in the Middle East.

I also enjoy combining my love of tech and conflict resolution and I am currently researching innovative methods to teach negotiation, particularly the impact of negotiating in VR/AR on negotiating behaviour.

Publications

Journal articles

• Garson, M. (2020) ‘Defying Gravity: Evaluating the Trickle-Up Effects of Reconciliation Programmes’, Ethnopolitics, 19(2), pp. 188–208.

Online articles

2022

• Garson, M. and Furlong, P. (2022) ‘Disrupters and Defenders: What the Ukraine Conflict Has Taught Us About the Power of Global Tech Companies’, Tony Blair Institute for Global Change.
• Garson, M., Delorme, J., Kakkad, J., Osman, R., Miller, B., Spisak, A., Sleat, D., Summers, H., Joliffe, E. and Mant, K. (2022) ‘Closing Ukraine’s Weapons Gap’, Tony Blair Institute for Global Change.
• Garson, M., Bear, L., Delorme, J., Lloyd, N., Miller, B., Osman, R., Sleat, D., Summers, H. and Wain, R. (2022) ‘Communicating with the Russian People: How to Break Through Putin’s Digital Iron Curtain’, Tony Blair Institute for Global Change.
• Garson, M. and Ersze, A. (2022) ‘A Leader’s Guide to Building a Tech Forward Foreign Policy’, Tony Blair Institute for Global Change.
• Garson, M. (2022) ‘Strategic Foreign Policy Leadership for a New Era of Tech Geopolitics’, Tony Blair Institute for Global Change.
• Garson, M., Adegoke, A. and Boakye, B. (2022) ‘Cybersecurity in Africa: What Should African Leaders Do to Strengthen the Digital Economy?’, Tony Blair Institute for Global Change.

2021

• Garson, M. (2021) ‘A Safer Net for All: The Opportunity of Cybersecurity’, Tony Blair Institute for Global Change.
• Garson, M. (2021) ‘An Educator’s Journey Into Teaching on Virtual Platforms: Lesson 1 Learning to Walk Again’, Political Studies Association Teaching and Learning Network.
• Garson, M. (2021) ‘What Lies Beneath: Solving the Hidden problems of the Internet’, Progress.
• Garson, M. and Bennett, A. (2021) ‘The Open Internet on the Brink: A Model to Save its Future’, Tony Blair Institute for Global Change.
• Garson, M. and Yachin, M. (2021) ‘How the Abraham Accords are Shaping a New Technological Covenant’, Tony Blair Institute for Global Change.
• Garson, M. and Mullen-O’Keefe, S. (2021) ‘The Mothership Algorithm’, Medium.
• Garson, M. and Mullen-O’Keefe, S. (2021) ‘The Search for Meaning in Meaningful Human Control’, Medium.

2020

• Garson, M. and Mullen-O’Keefe, S. (2020) ‘A Leader’s Opportunity: To Inspire Faith in Humanity’, Medium.
• Garson, M. and Mullen-O’Keefe, S. (2020) ‘How to Pick a Leader in a Leaderless Time’, Medium.

Teaching

I currently teach ‘International Negotiation’ (PUBL0088) and ‘From Cyberwarfare to Robots: The Future of Conflict in the Digital Age’ (PUBL0087).

Previously I have taught: ‘International Conflict Resolution & Post-War Development’, ‘Governing Divided Societies’, ‘International Peace and Security’, ‘Conflict & Cooperation’, ‘Theories of International Relations’, and ‘International Security’.