Dr. Melanie Garson

Cyber & Tech Geopolitics Lead, Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, UK

Dr Melanie Garson is the Cyber Policy & Tech Geopolitics Lead at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change. Her work focuses on cyber policy, the geopolitics of AI, computing, quantum and the internet, the rise of tech companies as geopolitical actors, and data governance, as well as the intersection of disruptive tech, foreign policy, defence, and diplomacy. 

Dr. Garson is also an Associate Professor of International Conflict Resolution & International Security in the Department of Political Science at University College London, where she teaches about new and emerging technologies and the future of conflict in the digital age. She also teaches courses on international negotiation and tech diplomacy. Dr. Garson presents regularly at international conferences on the implications of cyber, AI and emerging technologies, geopolitics, and foreign policy, and also provides commentary in podcasts, webinars, and at major media outlets including BBC, Sky, CNN, Fox News, France 24, and Deutsche Welle. Dr. Garson is an accredited mediator and has worked as a solicitor in the International Disputes department of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. She received her PhD from University College London and holds a Masters in Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy (Medford, MA).