Bio
Dr. Inga Trauthig is a research professor at the Jack D. Gordon Institute for Public Policy at Florida International University (FIU). She is a security studies scholar and received her Ph.D. from the Department of War Studies at King’s College London (KCL).
Dr. Trauthig’s research interests cover the political and security impacts of emerging technologies (AI, decentralized technologies, encryption, virtual reality). As a social science researcher, she works to understand the effects of emerging technologies–particularly regarding democratic backsliding, shifting power dynamics, extremism and related security implications–and what can be done from a regulatory perspective to counter harmful consequences.
She has authored over 80 publications. The majority of those are peer-reviewed while others are op-eds or shorter, policy-focused pieces such as “Self-Regulation won’t Prevent Problematic Uses of Generative AI” for Lawfare. She has published in peer-reviewed journals like Big Data & Society, Conflict, Security & Development, Journal of Online Trust & Safety, Journal of Public Diplomacy, New Media & Society, Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, Political Communication and Political Research Quarterly. Dr. Trauthig has co-edited a special journal issue on conspiracy theories for the Journal of Information Technology & Politics, the official peer-reviewed journal of the American Political Science Association (APSA) Organized Section on Information Technology & Politics.
Dr. Trauthig lectured or presented at Harvard University’s Kennedy School, Georgetown’s Walsh School of Foreign Service, Stanford’s Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and Yale’s Law School. Her regional expertise is strongest on the Middle East, but she has also led research projects and authored publications on China, Germany, India, Russia, or the US.
In general, her research is driven by an international comparative perspective, and she is currently working on a co-authored book for the University of Chicago Press examining the political effects of encrypted messaging apps in 14 countries – including related policy interventions. For her Ph.D. specifically, she focused on non-state actors in the Middle East and North Africa region, particularly Libya. This research was published as a monograph with Columbia University Press (“Ruining Revolution”, 2025).
Her work has received recognition by being nominated for the 2024 Research Excellence Career Award at the University of Texas at Austin. She has also been supported by scientific institutions as well as societal funders and has been acting as Co-PI for respective grants from DHS and Omidyar Network, for example.
She actively works to translate research insights into actionable policy advice by collaborating with governmental institutions, corporations or international, domestic and regional organization. She consults regularly with policy and security professionals and has given oral evidence in the U.K. Parliament.
Dr. Trauthig is a regular contributor to Tech Policy Press and the Center for International Governance Innovation. She has joined podcasts such as Just Security, NPR’s 1A or BBC’s Digital Human and her comments have been featured by outlets like Al Jazeera, Bloomberg, CNN, Houston Chronicle, Foreign Policy, New York Times, Tagesschau and The Washington Post. The Guardian referred to her as “a leading expert in propaganda technology” in an article on agentic AI swarms.
Other affiliations include being an expert group member for Terrorism and Domestic Security with the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, a consulting scientist on AI and elections with the International Panel on the Information Environment (IPIE), or a fellowship with the Institute of Middle Eastern Studies at King's College London. Previous positions include Head of Research of the Propaganda Research Lab at the Center for Media Engagement at the University of Texas at Austin, adjunct faculty at KCL’s School of Security Studies, research fellow with KCL’s International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation, or political consultant for corporate tech clients at Miller and Meier Consulting in Berlin.