Mauro Gilli, PhD

I am an independent researcher who does research on military technology, operations and strategy; weapons acquisition and defense policy; weapons development and industrial espionage; innovation, creativity and organizational culture; as well as technological change and technology strategy.

I am originally from Turin, Italy. I have a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Turin (summa cum laude), an M.A. in International Relations and International Economics from Johns Hopkins University's Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), and a Ph.D. in Political Science from Northwestern University. In 2015-2016, I was a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding of Dartmouth College, and from 2016 to 2025, I was a Senior Researcher in Military Technology and International Security at the Center for Security Studies of ETH-Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich)

My research has generated high profile media attention, such as from Nature, The Economist (print edition), New Scientist (print edition), The Washington Post (print edition), Foreign Policy (print edition), Wired, The Diplomat, The New Yorker (print edition), Die Neue Zurcher Zeitung (print edition), Der Spiegel, Al Jazeera (website), Business Insider (Italy), Italian National Television (RAI1, La7, RaiNews24 and SkyTV), Swiss National Television (RSI-La1 and RSI-La2), Italian National Radio (Radio1 Rai and Radio24), Swiss National Radio (RSI-ReteUno and RadioTicino), Die Presse (print edition, Austria), YLE (Finland), Le Point (print edition, France), Pravda (print edition, Slovakia), TRT World (Türkiye), and other news outlets from Canada, China, India, Indonesia, Lebanon, Taiwan, United Kingdom, Vietnam and others.

My research has been read and discussed (or has generated requests for further information) by senior officials at the National Security Council of the White House, the Office of the Secretary of Defense of the U.S. Department of Defense, the Office of Net Assessment of the U.S. Departmnt of Defense, NATO HQ, the Office of the NATO Secretary General, NATO Sciene and Technology Organization, NATO Allied Command Transformation, NATO SHAPE, the Italian Ministry of Defense, the Italian Air Force, the European Defense Agency, the European Space Agency, the Japanese Ministry of Defense, and others. I have been a consultant, among others, for the department of defense of a NATO country. I have written summaries of my research for Foreign Policy as well as for prominent blogs, such as The Washington Post-Monkey Cage, War on the Rocks, Vox.eu, Lawfare and Binding Hook.

My articles are or have been assigned for classes at Harvard University, Stanford University, Princeton University, Columbia University, Yale University, University of Chicago, Dartmouth College, University of Texas-Austin, University of Miami, University of Edinburgh, SciencePo, University of Bologna, Air University, University of Notre Dame, City-University of London, Royal Holloway-University of London, Seul National University, University of Wisconsin, and others.

Among others, I have been invited to give lectures and presentations at the NATO Defense College, Australian Defense College, the Center for Advanced Studies for the Defense (Italy), Geneva Center for Security Policy (Switzerland), Royal Air Force Museum (UK), the Royal Higher Institute for Defence (Belgium), the National Defese University (US), and others.

In case you wonder, my co-author Andrea is also my identical twin brother. You can find him here. For a discussion on co-authors with the same last name, see this extensively researched study.

When I was at Northwestern, a student of mine committed suicide. Unfortunately, tragedies like these affect too many families, every year. Instead of helping young students who go through difficult times, many schools openly discriminate them, thus making their lives even more difficult (read this enraging and sad story). I am committed to help fight discrimination against people with mental illnesses. For more information, check the page of the National Institute of Mental Health.

Google Sites

Report abuse