Dr. Jonathan Hall (’23): Geopolitics and Cyber Expert

“IWP’s Doctor of Statecraft and National Security allowed me to have a more in-depth focus on the policy aspects of my research instead of the more theoretical aspects that a traditional Ph.D. might require.”
– Dr. Jonathan Hall (’23)

Dr. Jonathan Hall (‘23) is a cyber intelligence practitioner at Recorded Future, where his work involves advisory services for both public and private sector organizations. Dr. Hall’s academic interests include cyber operations, private military contractors, and Eurasian geopolitics. In particular, much of his work involves the interplay between cyberspace and national security, which he has brought to IWP through his course Geopolitics and Strategy of Cyberspace (IWPO 729).

Below, Dr. Hall discusses how he entered the world of cyber from a background in geopolitics, how he applied theoretical lessons to real-world scenarios at IWP, and how he brings a strategic perspective to all of his projects.

A Dedication to Global Security

Originally from Florida, Jonathan Hall was part of the generation impacted by the 9/11 terrorist attacks. “From a young age, I began to see how much bad can be done in the world to good people,” he said. “and I think that’s something I carried with me. When I got to college, I pursued my interest in global politics, but always with that focus on security.”

During his undergraduate studies, Jonathan received a scholarship to study in Moscow and travel around Russia. After college, he moved to Budapest to pursue his master’s degree. “It was fascinating to study global politics surrounded by students from so many different countries,” he said.

In 2018, he completed an internship with a think tank in Ukraine, where he researched Russia’s maritime military strategy – a rapidly evolving topic at the time.

Upon his return to the United States, he started working as an intelligence analyst in D.C. at a consulting firm.

Developing Cyber Expertise

Dr. Hall’s background in traditional geopolitical analysis soon led him to see that cyber was an essential part of the equation.

“Cyber is a huge part of the foreign policy and military strategy of Russia and China,” said Jonathan. “My lack of familiarity with cyber was hurting my overall understanding of what these countries were doing at a strategic level. I also noticed that many other Russia and China experts also had little knowledge of cyber.”

Dr. Hall decided to make a change, and he started teaching himself the technical aspects of cyber. He soon applied this nexus of geopolitics and cyber in a new position as a cyber intelligence practitioner with Recorded Future. “It’s a field that’s evolving every day, and so I’ve been learning on the job and on my own ever since,” he said.

Choosing a Doctorate Program

Eager to continue expanding his professional knowledge, Jonathan decided to pursue his doctorate at IWP.

In addition to the professional focus of the Doctor of Statecraft and National Security program (DSNS), Dr. Hall was drawn to the scholar-practitioner faculty at IWP.

He said: “The faculty teaching the courses have come from or are working in the national security space, or they have taught in service academies, surrounded by real practitioners. We studied theory at IWP, but a sense of realism was always injected into the seminars. It made for a great experience, and I would recommend it for anyone doing something similar.”

Applying Lessons on Cyber Operations and Political Warfare

Inspired by his time at Recorded Future, Jonathan used his time at IWP to examine how cyber operations fit into the political warfare strategy of Russia and China.

In turn, his IWP studies impacted his approach to his work in the cyber security industry. “Everything we do at Recorded Future ties into international security, whether it is for public or private sector clients,” said Dr. Hall. “I firmly believe that cyber security equals national security. My research at IWP focused on the overlap between those two segments, which have been traditionally very isolated in how people think about them.”

He pointed out that cyber security is essential to so many areas, whether it is critical infrastructure run by the private sector or companies trying to protect themselves from digital espionage that would help drive the national economic power of our adversaries.

“We need a new paradigm,” said Jonathan. “This is something the cyber security industry at large understands and is working on, but it requires the buy-in of all varieties of security professionals.”

Enhancing Security Around the World

When he first started at Recorded Future, Jonathan worked as a consultant with both public and private sector organizations to implement cyber intelligence into their security practices. Now, as one of their Principal Architects, he manages how their alliance partners integrate with Recorded Future’s intelligence capabilities at scale.

“I enjoy how what I do at Recorded Future involves not just the purely technical aspects of cyber security, but the strategy of how we can make an outsized impact,” said Dr. Hall. “In my current role, that involves work with other tech companies and global systems integrators to figure out how the intelligence and data analysis we produce can be embedded into the systems and daily activities of teams around the world. While I’m not directly working with clients at the moment, there is a real sense of purpose to see how these partnerships translate into better decision-making and more efficient security for thousands of organizations.”

Teaching Geopolitics and Strategy of Cyberspace

Jonathan finds teaching at IWP to be rewarding as well: “It is a great feeling to take students from having no real cyber experience in the first week of the semester and then fast forwarding a few months later to reading some impressive and detailed analysis of these topics.” Throughout the course, Dr. Hall helps students develop a foundational understanding of the technical side of cyber and how it relates to international affairs. His goal is give students a solid start if they want to pursue a more technical path, as well as to give students a strong familiarity with cyber and how it relates to policy if they choose to pursue another area within national security/international affairs.

“Whether or not they choose a career in cyber, they will have some comfort level with this topic to build on, and they will be ready to intertwine cyber with whatever they are doing,” he said.

Reflections on the IWP Experience

Of his experience in the IWP doctorate program, Dr. Hall said that, “What sets IWP apart is the mode of teaching that its faculty employ.”

While many schools require students to provide an overview and analysis of the course content to demonstrate understanding, IWP faculty require an additional step: tying course content to real-world scenarios.

“The instructor will ask you what this idea looks like in practice,” said Dr. Hall. “They will ask you how you would devise a policy given your new understanding, or how a country might respond to a current situation. These questions stretch your critical thinking and challenge you to apply what you learned. This is what students’ professional careers will look like after they graduate anyway, so this is an invaluable exercise.”

Dr. Hall also has found that his IWP doctorate has helped him in his thinking at work: “My time at IWP has helped me to keep in mind the broader strategic implications of my work and where it fits into the wider national security ecosystem – even when I am working on a project that is very specific to my area of specialty.”