Data visualization, or the process of communicating quantitative information to enhance understanding, is an indispensable tool for journalists and policymakers. Yet resurgent interest in story-telling with data, as well as received wisdom about these outputs’ power to change attitudes, raises deeply political questions about their forms, functions, and consequences.

The Cyber Strategy and Tech Statecraft Group meets every Wednesday during term-time. It has a hybrid meeting format, held in person in the Chester Room at Nuffield College (in person) and on Microsoft Teams (online).

Preparatory materials will be sent in advance of the session, together with discussion questions for the session. Some background knowledge or experience of the topic is recommended but not required.

Christopher Morris runs a weekly discussion group. Please be aware that group attendance may be limited. It is required to contact Christopher (Christopher.Morris@politics.ox.ac.uk) in advance for availability. Meetings will run both in person and online.

In person location: Boyd Room, Hertford College
Online: Microsoft Teams

The Cyber Strategy and Tech Statecraft Group meets every Wednesday during term-time. It has a hybrid meeting format, held in person in the Chester Room at Nuffield College (in person) and on Microsoft Teams (online).

Preparatory materials will be sent in advance of the session, together with discussion questions for the session. Some background knowledge or experience of the topic is recommended but not required.

Overview: Disinformation in Africa is a growing concern, with Russian disinformation promoting anti-Western sentiment and contributing to a series of coups that have toppled democratically elected governments in recent years. Meanwhile, China is increasingly active in spreading disinformation in the region. The challenge is compounded by recent advancements in AI, which serve to amplify the impact of disinformation. Caroline Baylon will present her research on the disinformation landscape in Africa, including her recent work for the French government and ECOWAS in West Africa.

The Cyber Strategy and Tech Statecraft Group meets every Wednesday during term-time. It has a hybrid meeting format, held in person in the Chester Room at Nuffield College (in person) and on Microsoft Teams (online).

Preparatory materials will be sent in advance of the session, together with discussion questions for the session. Some background knowledge or experience of the topic is recommended but not required.

We are at a dangerous intersection in the counterterrorism (CT) world as it becomes second tier priority against great state competition. The next decade of domestic CT will be defined by the ideological fragmentation of extremists which complicates CT work at the backdrop of exacerbating mental health and criminality overlaps. However, we are also seeing a return of upstream sanctuary-based terrorism with the fall of Afghanistan and ungoverned space in the Sahel and Sub-Saharan Africa.

The Cyber Strategy and Tech Statecraft Group meets every Wednesday during term-time. It has a hybrid meeting format, held in person in the Chester Room at Nuffield College (in person) and on Microsoft Teams (online).

Preparatory materials will be sent in advance of the session, together with discussion questions for the session. Some background knowledge or experience of the topic is recommended but not required.

Our guest speaker will present the key arguments and implications of his current manuscript, The Price of Certainty. His book offers the first systematic assessment of how AI systems, and the tools they produce, will reshape political and military decision-making. These technologies will offer faster-than-human calculation and handle data volumes that far exceed human cognitive capabilities. As these tools demonstrate their operational advantages, they will definitively reform how we, as humans, think about, understand, and act in the world.

The Cyber Strategy and Tech Statecraft Group meets every Wednesday during term-time. It has a hybrid meeting format, held in person in the Chester Room at Nuffield College (in person) and on Microsoft Teams (online).

Preparatory materials will be sent in advance of the session, together with discussion questions for the session. Some background knowledge or experience of the topic is recommended but not required.