bio & cv
About
Jon Askonas is a writer and political theorist working at the intersection of technology, war, and American grand strategy. His central preoccupation is organizational learning and forgetting — why institutions, from armies to states to firms, fail to retain and apply hard-won knowledge.
He is a member of the Policy Planning Staff at the U.S. Department of State, an Assistant Professor of Politics at the Catholic University of America, and a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for American Innovation, where he leads the Defense Innovation portfolio and co-leads the AI and Copyright for National Security project.
He holds a DPhil in Politics from the University of Oxford and a B.S.F.S. summa cum laude from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service.
Appointments
- Member, Policy Planning Staff, U.S. Department of State (2025–present)
- Senior Fellow, Foundation for American Innovation (2022–present)
- Assistant Professor of Politics, Catholic University of America (2018–present)
- Fellow & Director of Programs, Center for the Study of Statesmanship, CUA
Education
- DPhil, Politics (International Relations), University of Oxford, 2019
- MPhil, Politics (International Relations), University of Oxford, 2015
- B.S.F.S., International Politics, Georgetown University, 2013
Selected Honors
- Emerging Public Intellectual Award, John Templeton Foundation, 2024
- The Beinecke Scholarship, 2014