Philip Potter

Philip Potter is a Professor of Politics and Public Policy and Founding Director of the National Security Policy Center (NSPC) at the Frank Batten School of Leadership & Public Policy, University of Virginia. He also serves as the inaugural director of the National Security Data and Policy Institute (NSDPI), a partnership between UVA and the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

Education: PhD and MA in Political Science from UCLA; BA (Honors) in Political Science and Economics from McGill University.

Research focuses on national security, US foreign policy, international terrorism, and data-driven analysis of geopolitical threats. Key projects include mapping militant alliances and analyzing terrorism in autocracies. He has served as a University Expert with the National Ground Intelligence Center (US Army INSCOM) and an Associate Principal Investigator for Time-Sharing Experiments in the Social Sciences (TESS).

Awardees include fellowships at Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania. His book War and Democratic Constraint (coauthored with Matthew Baum) was published by Princeton University Press. He co-leads the NSDPI to leverage AI and data science for national security challenges.

• Editorial roles: Journal of Politics and Journal of Global Security Studies
• Advisory roles: Department of Defense, Modern War Institute at West Point
• Labs/Teams: NSPC and NSDPI initiatives