Professor Janina Dill Joins Trinity as Dame Louise Richardson Chair in Global Security

Professor Janina Dill has been appointed to the inaugural Dame Louise Richardson Chair in Global Security at Oxford University. The post is a joint appointment with Trinity, where she will take up the role of Professorial Fellow.

The Dame Louise Richardson Chair in Global Security, based at the Blavatnik School of Government, will build on the School’s expertise in international law, economics, philosophy and government, and its wide-ranging engagement with leading scholars and practitioners on issues from cyber security to reducing state fragility.

Focused on critical priorities in global security such as the proliferation of nuclear weapons, terrorism, ethics of warfare and international law, the Chair will lead global collaborative research and build on the School’s growing outreach to current public leaders through short courses and global workshops.

Professor Dill is currently a Professor at the Department of Politics and International Relations (DPIR) of the University of Oxford, a Fellow at Nuffield College and Co-Director of the Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law, and Armed Conflict (ELAC). She is the John G. Winant Professor of U.S. Foreign Policy at the University of Oxford. She says: ‘I am delighted to have been appointed the inaugural Dame Louise Richardson Chair in Global Security. This is a school of government, and while governments are the greatest producers of global insecurity, they are also uniquely placed to improve global security to make a difference. I am excited to build a teaching programme at the School.’

Professor Dill plans to explore three research streams: the protection of civilians in armed conflict; how law and ethics can constrain deterrence and prevent nuclear use; and the psychology of decision-making on the use of force. She is currently the John G. Winant Professor of U.S. Foreign Policy at the University of Oxford. Her research concerns the role of law and morality in international relations, specifically in war. She contributes to debates about the capacity of international law to constrain military decision-making. She also studies how normative considerations can shape public opinion on the use of force and the attitudes of conflict-affected populations, for instance, in Afghanistan, Ukraine and Iraq. In 2021, she  won a Philip Leverhulme Prize for researchers ‘whose work has had international impact and whose future research career is exceptionally promising.’ She will use the prize to conduct further research on the moral psychology of decision-making in war.