Dr Jeni Mitchell is a lecturer in the Department of War Studies specialising in future war studies, space studies and the evolution of rebellion. She is founder and co-director of the Future Threats Lab, a research group within the Centre for Science & Security Studies that takes a human-centric approach to the most dire threats facing humanity and its habitats.She is also an associate of the Freeman Air and Space Institute and the King’s Wargaming Network.

Jeni’s current research focuses on future threat perceptions (particularly in the space domain), futures research methods, and the evolution of the ‘apocalyptic imaginary’. She also has a special interest in: the nexus of war, genocide and other types of future threats; neo-colonial dynamics within future threat mitigation strategies; and a basket of methodological approaches she calls ‘future-crafting’, in which creative formats such as film, books and games are used to explore and hypothesise future war scenarios. Her most recent publication is ‘War in Ukraine and the Apocalyptic Imaginary’ in Beyond Ukraine: Debating the Future of War (Hurst, 2024).

Jeni teaches MA modules on the future of war, spacepower and war, and the evolution of rebellion and insurgency. She is also Programme Director for the MA International Relations and War.

Jeni completed her PhD in the Department of War Studies, where she conducted doctoral research on civilian victimisation by non-state armed groups, and contributed to research projects and government consultations on Afghanistan and Iraq. She has previously worked for Chatham House, the Brookings Institution and the Middle East Institute.

Research Interests

• Future of war
• Strategy and war in space
• Insurgency and rebellion (early modern era to present)
• Irregular warfare
• Civilian victimization
• Utopian ideologies and transgressive violence

Teaching

Dr Mitchell teaches the following MA modules:

• The Evolution of Insurgency
• The Future of War
• Spacepower and War

Publications

• 'War in Ukraine and the Apocalyptic Imaginary’ in Beyond Ukraine: Debating the Future of War (London: Hurst, 2024))
• ‘Space and the (Re)Construction of Threats: A Human-Centric Analysis’, presented at BISA 2024
• Rethinking Rebel Violence: The Incentives for Victimisation and Restraint in Modern Warfare (Routledge, forthcoming)
• ‘The Refugee-Warrior in an Era of Revolutionary Violence’ (with Satvinder Juss), in Beyond Human Rights and the War on Terror (London: Routledge, 2019)
• ‘Gatekeepers of Asylum: UK Country Guidance, Indiscriminate Violence and Internal Relocation’ (with Satvinder Juss), in Research Handbook on International Refugee Law (London: Edward Elgar, 2019)
• A Bite-Sized History of France: Gastronomic Tales of War, Revolution and Enlightenment, with Stephane Henaut (New York: New Press, 2018)
• 'Civilian Victimization during the Tajik Civil War: A Typology and Strategic Assessment', Central Asian Survey 34, No. 3 (September 2015), 357-372.
• 'Moudjahidines de Bosnie: quand l'Afghanistan s'exporte dans les Balkans', Guerres et Histoires (No. 21, October 2014)
• 'The Contradictory Effects of Jihadist War-fighting: The Bosnia Precedent', Studies in Conflict and Terrorism 31, No. 9 (2008), 808-828.