William Akoto

William Akoto is an Assistant Professor of Global Security in the Department of Foreign Policy & Global Security at the School of International Service, American University, and serves as Director of Research at the Center for Security, Innovation, and New Technology (CSINT). Previously, he taught at Fordham University, the University of South Carolina, and Nelson Mandela University in South Africa.

Education:

• PhD in Political Science, University of South Carolina, 2019

Research Interests: Dr. Akoto's work centers on interstate cyber conflict dynamics, examining how states weaponize cyber capabilities for national security objectives. His research extends to the political economy of aid and trade, analyzing debt relief mechanisms and trade-sanction interactions, and military coups, investigating coup triggers and consequences through complex systems theory. He develops microfounded theoretical models to explore institutional and preference-based drivers of state behavior.

Publication Trends: His 2020-2024 publications reveal a decisive shift toward cyber conflict research, with 80% of recent work focusing on state-sponsored cyber attacks, economic espionage, and cyber-proxy warfare. This builds on earlier expertise in trade-politics linkages (2013-2020), demonstrating consistent application of political economy frameworks across security domains. His methodology increasingly integrates complex systems science to analyze large-scale behavioral patterns.

Scientific Awards:

• SIS Collaborative Research Award (June 2024)
• Outstanding Graduate Student Teacher Award (April 2019)
• Adam Smith Fellow, Mercatus Center (August 2016–July 2017)
• Thurmond-Atwater Fellowship (July 2015–May 2016)
• IAAR Research Fellow (August 2014–July 2015)

Advising and Grants: Dr. Akoto has secured competitive research funding including the 2024 SIS Collaborative Research Award and Mercatus Center fellowship. His teaching excellence was recognized with the 2019 Outstanding Graduate Student Teacher Award. While specific advisees aren't documented, his course designs emphasize analytical skill development through constant feedback mechanisms, debate, and current events integration across undergraduate international relations curricula.

Labs and Teams: As CSINT Director of Research, he leads interdisciplinary initiatives examining emerging technology-security intersections, with current focus on cyber warfare economics, satellite cybersecurity, and AI governance frameworks through structured collaboration between academic researchers and security practitioners.