Nazli Choucri

Biography

Nazli Choucri, Professor of Political Science, is a Senior Faculty at the Center of International Studies (CIS), and Faculty Affiliate at the Institute for Data, Science, and Society (IDSS). She works in the area of international relations and cyberpolitics, with special attention to sources of conflict and strategies for security and sustainability. Professor Choucri directs the research initiatives of Cyber-IR@MIT -- also known as ECIR 2.0 -- an extension of the cyber-inclusive view of international relations introduced by MIT-Harvard project on Explorations in Cyber International Relations for which she served as principal investigator. She is the architect and Director of the Global System for Sustainable Development (GSSD), an evolving knowledge networking system centered on sustainability problems and solution strategies. Professor Choucri is the founding Editor of the MIT Press Series on Global Environmental Accord, previously General Editor of the International Political Science Review, and currently on the Editorial Board of the American Political Science Review.

Professor Choucri has written numerous papers, and is the author and/or editor of twelve books, most recently Cyberpolitics in International Relations (2012) and International Relations in the Cyber Age: The Co-Evolution Dilemma, with David D. Clark (2019). She is a member of the European Academy of Sciences. Her international research and advisory activities include two terms as President of the Scientific Advisory Committee of UNESCO's Management of Social Transformation Program -- as well as work in  Algeria, Canada, Colombia, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Honduras, Japan, Kuwait, Mexico, Pakistan, Qatar, Sudan, Switzerland, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

Research

International Conflict and CyberPolitics Professor Choucri works in the areas of international relations, conflict and violence and the international political economy with a focus on cyberspace and the global environment. Her early research concentrated on sources and consequences of international conflict and warfare in theoretical and empirical contexts. Her current research is on cyberpolitics in international relations focusing on linking integrating cyberspace into the fabric of international relations. Special attention is on cybersecurity, the power of knowledge, and the changes in political and strategic implications of cyber access worldwide. In collaboration with the late Robert C. North, Stanford University, Choucri developed the theory of lateral pressure in international relations, including its analytical and quantitative representation, and initial validation. Lateral Pressure refers to the propensity to expand behavior outside national boundaries. The theory focuses on the sources and consequences of such propensity.

Sustainability and Cyberspace Directing the GSSD initiative, she overseas an evolving multilingual e-knowledge networking system (English, Chinese) designed to facilitate the provision and uses of knowledge in transitions to sustainability, while developing system extensions to incorporate cyberspace and capture evolving patterns of conflict and competition therein. The intellectual foundations and implementation strategy are reported in a co-edited book entitled Mapping Sustainability: Knowledge e-Networking and the Value Chain (2007). The basic architecture is now being adapted for application to the cyber arena, drawing on Cyberpolitics in International Relations (in press).

Recent Publications

CyberPolitics in International Relations. The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA. 2012.

Mapping Sustainability: Knowledge e-Networking and the Value Chain. Springer: London. 2007.

"Knowledge Networking for Global Sustainability: New Modes of Cyberpartnering." in D.J. Richards, B.R. Allenby, and W.D. Compton (eds) Information Systems and the Environment. 2001.

"Governance and International Management," in Ted Munn, ed., Encyclopedia of Global Environmental Change. London: John Wiley and Sons. Washington: National Academy Press, pp. 195-210. 2000.

Global Accord: Environmental Challenges and International Responses. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. 1993.

The Challenge of Japan: Before World War II and After. Routledge: London and New York. With R. C. North, and Suzumu Yamakage. 1992.

International Energy Futures: Petroleum Prices, Power, and Payments. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. 1981

Teaching

News

Prof Nazli Choucri's new coauthored book provides a foundational analysis of the co-evolution of the internet and international relations

April 9, 2019 MIT Press

Professor Nazli Choucri discusses sustainable development and violence on Peace Talks Radio

October 27, 2017 Host: Suzanne Kryder Peace Talks Radio

Could we be trying to increase peace through speech or action, but forget about the planet’s ability to handle population growth? Peace Talks Radio discuss the impact of
population on peace and what people can do about it with Dr. Nazli Choucri, Professor of Political Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and John Seager, President and CEO of Population Connection.

Nazli Choucri

November 6, 2015

Panel 4: Conducting research at MIT: What is uniue about being a Political Scientist here? (Cybersecurity)