Martin Waehlisch

Martin Waehlisch serves as Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science and International Studies at the University of Birmingham, with dual affiliations at the Birmingham Institute for Sustainability and Climate Action and the Institute for Interdisciplinary Data Science and AI. His work bridges computational methodologies with global governance, focusing on technology's role in transforming peacebuilding and international relations through United Nations frameworks.

His research expertise centers on Computational Social Science applications in Peacebuilding (100% fingerprint match), United Nations operations (99%), and Artificial Intelligence integration (67%). Current projects examine how novel data sources, XR technologies, and AI systems enhance diplomatic processes and conflict prevention, with emphasis on Lebanon case studies and UN peace operation modernization. This manifests in his Computational Global Affairs initiative exploring digital twins for societal simulation and AI-driven crisis response systems.

Analysis of his 32 research outputs reveals accelerating interdisciplinary convergence since 2020, with 2025 publications demonstrating critical focus on AI ethics in governance, emotion simulation in voice assistants, and data-driven peacebuilding frameworks. His work consistently connects technical innovation to UN Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions).

Waehlisch actively hosts and speaks at major academic forums including Smarter Systems for a Sustainable Future (July 2025) and Can AI Fix Government? (May 2025), while maintaining regular media engagement through outlets like AI is supercharging war. Could it also help broker peace? (June 2025). He currently accepts PhD students for Computational Global Affairs research.

His institutional collaborations span Weizenbaum Institute, Harvard Dataverse, and UN entities through the Birmingham Institute for Sustainability and Climate Action. Current initiatives include Virtual Worlds Economy development (June 2025) and Simulating Society digital twin projects (June 2025), positioning him at the AI-climate-conflict nexus.