Global and International Studies Building, 1018
Research Summary
Jelena Vićić is an Assistant Professor of International Studies in the Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies at Indiana University, Bloomington. She is also an Associate Fellow at The Hague Program on International Cybersecurity at Leiden University, and a Research Affiliate at both the Center for Peace and Security Studies (cPASS) at the University of California, San Diego, and at the Center for Cyber Strategy and Policy (CCSP) at the University of Cincinnati.
Her research interests lie at the intersection of emerging technology and international conflict, with a particular focus on influence operations, national security, and strategic state competition. She employs experimental wargaming, statistical modeling, and semantic network analysis to uncover how actors use cyberspace to pursue strategic objectives, manage escalation, and influence public opinion.
Her work has appeared in Journal of Peace Research, Intelligence and National Security, Political Research Quarterly, American Politics Research, Cyber Defense Review, and others. She is co-editing a forthcoming special issue in International Interactions titled “Measurement and Meaning: Bridging Theory and Data in Cyber Conflict Studies,” as well as a forthcoming special issue in Journal of Information Technology and Politics on Cyber Conflict in the Indo-Pacific. In addition to academic publications, she has written for Scientific American, Lawfare, and War On The Rocks.
Educational Background
- Ph.D., Political Science, University of Cincinnati, 2021
- M.A., International Studies, Diplomatic Academy of Vienna, 2015
- B.A., American University in Bulgaria, 2011
Regions of Interest
- United States
- China
- Russia
- Western Balkans
Research Topics
- Cyber Conflict
- Strategic Competition
- Influence Operations
- Disinformation
- National Security
Representative Publications
- Vićić, Jelena, and Erik Gartzke. 2024. “A Center of Gravity in Cyberconflict: Cyber-Enabled Influence Operations and Foreign Interference in Domestic Politics.” Journal of Peace Research, 61(1):10-27.
- Vićić, Jelena, and Richard Harknett. 2024. "Identification-Imitation-Amplification: Understanding Divisive Influence Campaigns in cyberspace." Intelligence and National Security, 39(5):897-914.
- Hamman, Seth T., Jelena Vićić, Jack Mewhirter, Philip White, Richard Harknett. 2020. “Deciphering Cyber Operations: The Use of Experimental Methodology for Studying Military Strategic Concepts in Cyberspace.” Cyber Defense Review, 5, no.1, pp. 135-150.