Brendon J. Cannon is an academic with expertise in international security, geopolitics, and the Indo-Pacific, with a particular focus on global power distributions, regional security dynamics, and the interplay between security and emerging technologies. His research examines great power rivalry, security alignments, and classical geopolitics across the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific regions. His current research explores transformative technologies, most notably the security and governance of the global undersea cable network that underpins our knowledge economy, to include AI. His work has appeared in peer-reviewed journals such as Geopolitics, Defence Studies, The Pacific Review, Global Policy, Third World Quarterly, and Asian Security. He earned his Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Utah in 2009 and is currently Associate Professor of International Security at Khalifa University of Science and Technology in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Brendon J. Cannon
BSIA Fellow Balsillie Scholar (June - July 2025) Associate Professor, Institute of International and Civil Security, Khalifa University of Science and Technology
BSIA Fellow, Balsillie Scholar
BSIA Fellow, Balsillie Scholar
RESEARCH CLUSTERS
RESEARCH CLUSTERS
Brendon J. Cannon
BSIA Fellow
Balsillie Scholar (June - July 2025)
Associate Professor, Institute of International and Civil Security, Khalifa University of Science and Technology
Select Publications
- “Undersea Cable Security in the Indo-Pacific: Enhancing the Quad’s Collaborative Approach” Marine Policy Vol. 171 No. 106415 (2025), pp 1-6.
- “Looking Under the Hood of Joint Naval Exercises: Motives and Perceived Benefits for Japan” with Ash Rossiter & Yee Kuang Heng Pacific Review (2025).
- “Central Asia and the Indo-Pacific: bridging the divide in an age of great power rivalry,” with Li-Chen Sim and Farkhod Aminjonov International Affairs (2025), pp. 1193-1212.
- “Rethinking and arresting Eurasian hegemony: the centrality of central Asia to Indo-Pacific strategies,” with Ash Rossiter International Affairs (2025), pp. 1177-1192.
- “Flags on Maps in the Indo-Pacific and the Securitization of China’s presence in Eastern Africa” African Security vol. 17, no. 3-4 (2024), pp. 148-176.
- “Contested Informality in Regional Institutional Design: A Comparative Analysis of ASEAN and the Quad” with Andrew F. Cooper Global Policy Vol. 15 No. 1 (2024), pp. 40-52.
- “Locating the Quad: Informality, Institutional Flexibility, and Future Alignment in the Indo-Pacific,” with Ash Rossiter International Politics (2022), pp. 1-22.
- “The cascading dynamics of informal institutions: organizational processes and governance implications” with Andrew F. Cooper and Emel Parlar Dal International Politics (2022), pp. 1-22.
- “Unravelling Japan’s Aircraft Carrier Puzzle: Leveraging Carriers’ Symbolic Value,” with Ash Rossiter Asian Security, Vol. 18 No. 1 (2021), pp. 20-37.
- Indo-Pacific Strategies: Navigating Geopolitics at the Dawn of a New Age with Kei Hakata. Oxon: Routledge (2022).
- “Mapping undersea cable risk from bathymetry to geopolitics: Evidence‑based rankings and tailored resilience strategies,” with Kazuki Matsuo and Moeri Matsuda Marine Policy (under review)
Education
- PhD in Political Science with emphasis on Comparative Politics and international Relations, University of Utah, 2009
- MA in Middle East Studies and History, University of Utah, 2002
- BA in European Studies, Brigham Young University, 1995