Alexander Rudolph is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Political Science at Carleton University and an expert on Canadian cyber policy. His research examines grand strategy, conflict, and competition in cyberspace and how states attempt to maintain their monopoly on violence in the digital domain. He applies the sociology of hackers, information security, and open-source intelligence methods to investigate the strategic thought and doctrine of cyber conflict and how it influences the creation of cyber force structures in military and intelligence organizations. His methods improve existing methods of analysis of cyber conflict by introducing hacker-informed perspectives on cyberspace and cyber conflict.
Alex’s research interests include Canadian cyber defense policy, strategic thought of cyberspace, doctrine of cyber conflict, cyber force development, cyber force structures, and cyber warfare/conflict. He received his master’s degree from Carleton University where his thesis explored the force development of Canada’s new offensive cyber posture from its 2017 defense review Strong, Secure, Engaged. Alex received an International Studies certificate from Victor Valley College in Victorville, California, and an Honors Bachelor of Arts in Political Studies from the University of Manitoba. He is also an alumnus of Seton Hall University’s United Nations Intensive Summer Program and the Canadian Defense and Security Network Summer Institute.
In addition to his PhD studies, Alex regularly contributes to Canadian and international discussions on cyber conflict. Contributions include Canada needs to address risks of aging IT to fend off threats that come with digital government for CBC News, Digital Transformation and Pan-Domain: The CAF’s Quiet Revolution in Military Affairs for the Canadian Global Affairs Institute, testimony to Canada’s House of Commons National Defence Committee for their study on Cybersecurity and Cyberwarfare, and regularly provides comments to the media such as The Hill Times, Toronto Star, and SaltWire. As one of Canada’s leading cyber defence policy researchers, Alex created Canadian Cyber in Context, the first open research publication dedicated to research and analysis of Canadian cyber defense.