Research Leader, Defence, Security, and Justice, RAND Europe
He/Him
Jacob Parakilas is a research leader at RAND Europe for the Defence Strategy, Policy and Capabilities group. His professional interests are in transatlantic security architecture, the war in Ukraine, and the evolution of technology and warfare. He leads RAND Europe's work on Defence Strategy and Policy. In this role, he has led research, advisory, and wargaming work for the British, Ukrainian, and allied governments and international bodies. He has written and commented in a wide range of international publications and in public and closed forums, and taught classes on the ethics of war and peace and strategic aspects of international relations.
Previously, Parakilas worked on the U.S.-UK defense relationship as part of the State Department's Political-Military team at Embassy London. He also lived in Lagos, Nigeria, where he consulted and wrote a column on defense technology and the future of warfare. Prior to that, he was the deputy head of the U.S. program at Chatham House, working on issues relating to the U.S. role in the world and foreign perceptions of America. In that role, he led the development of the operational concept for the Chatham House Simulation Centre and coordinated seven policy wargames. He has also worked at Action on Armed Violence and in a student visa-related school certification role at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
He completed a Ph.D. in international relations at the London School of Economics and a Master's in Middle East and Central Asian security issues at the University of St. Andrews.
Ph.D. in international relations, London School of Economics and Political Science; M.Litt. in Middle East and Central Asian Security Studies, University of St Andrews; B.A. in international relations, Hampshire College
