The project is titled "Great Power Competition and Remote Warfare: Change or Continuity in Practice?" and draws from practice-theories and semi-structured elite interviews with Washington-based policymakers to explore the impact Trump's presidential legacy on remote warfare.

The abstract for Tom’s project is as follows: 

The Trump administration is argued to have fundamentally shifted the direction of US foreign policy through its focus on great power competition with China and Russia. Nevertheless, we know little about how this key aspect of Trump’s presidential legacy has impacted the use of the strategic practices associated with remote warfare, the dynamics of change and continuity in US foreign policy, and Joseph Biden’s presidency. This project draws from practice-theories and semi-structured elite interviews with Washington-based policymakers to explore these issues, making a series of timely contributions to how we study contemporary global politics.

Dr. Tom Watts is a Leverhulme Early Career Research Fellow based at Royal Holloway, University of London. His new Leverhulme funded research project examines the relationship between great power competition, remote warfare, and the processes of change and continuity in American foreign policy. Until October 2022, Tom worked as a researcher on the ERC funded AUTONORMS project based at the University of Southern Denmark examining the weaponization of AI. You can find out more about his research here.