Biography

Biography

Professor Nayef Al-Rodhan: A Pioneering TransDisciplinary Intellectual, Advancing the Quest for a Peaceful and Prosperous Global Order, On Earth and in Outer Space FOR ALL 

Professor Nayef Al-Rodhan FRSA is a transdisciplinary philosopher, neuroscientist, geostrategist and futurologist. 

He is an Honorary Fellow of St. Antony's College, Oxford University; Head of the Geopolitics and Global Futures Department at the Geneva Center for Security Policy in Switzerland; Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Philosophy, School of Advanced Study, University of London; Member of the Global Future Councils at the World Economic Forum; and Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA).He is also the intellectual founder of the Transdisciplinary Philosophy movement, which bridges and transcends traditional academic boundaries while addressing fundamental questions across the breadth of philosophy as it interacts with other disciplines and 21st Century concerns.

Prof. Al-Rodhan is a prize-winning scholar who has written more than 350 articles and 25 books, including most recently 21st-Century Statecraft: Reconciling Power, Justice And Meta-Geopolitical Interests, Sustainable History And Human Dignity, Emotional Amoral Egoism: A Neurophilosophy Of Human Nature And Motivations, and On Power: Neurophilosophical Foundations And Policy Implications. His research focuses on transdisciplinarity, neuro-techno-philosophy, and the future of philosophy, with a particular emphasis on the interplay between philosophy, neuroscience, strategic culture, applied history, and geopolitics, on Earth and in Outer Space. His current projects are also focused around Geopolitical Realities, Geostrategic Imperatives, Collective Civilisational Frontier Risks, Outer Space Security, Safety and Sustainability, Disruptive Technologies (Generative AI, Synthetic Biology, SuperIntelligence), National and Global Security, Political Theory and International Relations, with his transdisciplinary 'Symbiotic Realism' framework describing the seven new forces transforming the international system.

Academic Background 

Prof. Nayef Al-Rodhan began his career as a neurosurgeon and neuroscientist. As a medical student, he was mentored and influenced by the renowned neurologist, Lord John Walton of Detchant. He trained in neurosurgery and conducted neuroscience research at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota in the United States. He became Chief Resident in neurosurgery and was influenced by Prof. Thoralf M. Sundt, Prof. David Piepgrass, and Prof. Patrick J Kelly at the Mayo Clinic. He obtained a Ph.D. in 1988 for his work on the Characterization of Opioid and Neurotensin Receptor Subtypes in the Brain with Respect to Antinociception.

In 1993, on a fellowship from the Congress of Neurological Surgeons, he joined the department of neurosurgery at the Yale University School of Medicine as a fellow in epilepsy surgery and molecular neuroscience under the direction of Prof. Dennis Spencer. In 1994, Prof. Al-Rodhan became a fellow at the department of neurosurgery at the Massachusetts General Hospital at Harvard Medical School, where he worked on the study of neuropeptides, molecular genetics, and neuronal regeneration. In 1995, he was appointed to the faculty of the Harvard Medical School and while at Harvard and Massachusetts General Hospital, he founded the neurotechnology program with Nobel Prize winner Prof. James E. Muller. Working with Prof. Robert Martuza, Al-Rodhan also founded the Laboratories for Cellular Neurosurgery and Neurosurgical Technology at the Department of Neurosurgery at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School.

Pioneering Transdisciplinary Work

Since 2002, Prof. Al-Rodhan has shifted his scholarly focus to the broader interplay between neuroscience and international relations, philosophy, applied history, strategic culture, international relations and Geopolitics, on Earth and in Outer Space. Through several publications, he has pioneered the application of neuroscience and the neuro-behavioural consequences of the neurochemical and cellular mechanisms that underpin emotions, amorality, egoism, fear, greed, and dominance, into the analysis and conceptualization of trends in contemporary geopolitics, global security, national security, transcultural security, future risks, and war and peace.

In 2006, Nayef Al-Rodhan joined the Geneva Center for Security Policy in Geneva, Switzerland, where he is the Head of the Geopolitics and Global Futures Department. In 2009, Al-Rodhan became a Senior Member of St. Antony’s College, Oxford University where he analyses, amongst other things, critical turning points in the Arab-Islamic world and their current and future regional and global geopolitical relevance. In 2014, he became an Honorary Fellow of St Antony's College. In 2020, Al-Rodhan joined the Institute of Philosophy, School of Advanced Study at the University of London, as a Senior Research Fellow, In the same year, Prof. Al-Rodhan accepted an invitation from the World Economic Forum to become a Member of the Global Future Council on Frontier Risks and previously served for more than a decade on various WEF future agenda councils.

His current research focuses on: the interplay between Neuroscience, Neuro-Techno-Philosophy, Disruptive Technologies (AI, Quantum Computing, Synthetic Biology, Superintelligence), Geopolitical Realities, Geostrategic Imperatives, Symbiotic Realism, Multi-Sum Security, Human Enhancement, Global Futures, Sustainable National and Global Security, Outer Space Security and Sustainability, Statecraft, Collective Civilisational Risks, Cascading Frontier Risks, International Relations and Public Policy, Global Justice; Human Dignity and International Order; the Shared History of Humanity and Transcultural Security and Synergy; the Philosophy of Sustainable History and the Dignity of Man; the History of Ideas; Neurophilosophy of Human Nature and its implications for war, peace and moral and political cooperation between ideologies, states and cultures.

Awards and Recognition

Nayef Al-Rodhan has received the following research awards: Sir James Spence Prize, the Gibb Prize, the Farquhar-Murray Prize, the American Association of Neurological Surgeon Prize (twice), the Menninger Prize, the Annual Resident Prize of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons, the Young Investigator Prize of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, and the Annual Fellowship Prize of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons. In 2014, he was voted as one of the top 30 most influential Neuroscientists in the world today. In 2017, he was ranked in the top 100 most Influential geopolitics experts in the World and, in 2022, he was named as one of theTop 50 influential researchers whose work could shape 21st-century politics and policy.

In 2023, The Royal Institute of Philosophy launched The Nayef Al-Rodhan International Prize in Transdisciplinary Philosophy, which rewards the most original philosophical research transcending academic disciplines. The annual prize is the first of its kind in the United Kingdom and has attracted hundreds of submissions from around the world.

Notable Theories and Frameworks:

1 - A NeuroPhilosophy of Human Nature: Emotional Amoral Egoism

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Book: 21st-Century Statecraft

July 2022

Strategic Culture and Pragmatic National Interest

July 2015 - Global Policy Journal

The Geopolitics of Culture: Five Substrates

July 2014 - Global Policy




11 - Ocean Model of Civilization

 
 
 

Why architects need philosophy to guide the AI design revolution

July 2024 - BIG THINK

Sentience, Safe AI and The Future of Philosophy: A Transdisciplinary Analysis

February 2024 - Oxford Public Philosophy (OPP)

My Speech on 31 October, 2023, at The Royal Institute of Philosophy, UK During the Award Ceremony for The Nayef Al-Rodhan International Book Prize in Transdisciplinary Philosophy

October 2023 - Royal Institute of Philosophy

Transdisciplinary philosophy and public policy

June 2023 - Research Features

Navigating (Living) Philosophy:  An Unconventional Journey—My Ode to Transdisciplinary Philosophy

February 2023 - APA

Transdisciplinarity, neuro-techno-philosophy, and the future of philosophy

November 2022 - Metaphilosophy

Research Features: “The Future of Philosophy is Transdisciplinary”

Commentary on My NeuroTechnoPhilosophy Framework in Research Features May 2023

A Neurophilosophy of “Sustainable Neurochemical Gratification” and the Meaning of Existence

July 2020 - APA

A Neurophilosophy of Divisive Politics, Inequality and Disempowerment

June 2020 - APA

Social Distancing: A Neurophilosophical Perspective

April 2020 - Areo

A Neurophilosophical paradigm for a new Enlightenment

March 2020 - APA

A Neurophilosophy of Conflict, War, and Peace

December 2019 - APA

A Neurophilosophy of global trans-cultural understanding

September 2019 - APA

A Neuro-Philosophy of Dignity-Based Governance

October 2018 - APA

Divisive Politics and the Brain: Primordial Determinism vs. Responsible Egalitarianism

October 2016 - Global Policy


13 - On Power: NeuroPhilosophical Foundations and Policy implications

 
 

Book: 21st-Century Statecraft

July 2022

Just Power for a Reformed UN

June 2018 - OXPOL


17 - Fear-Induced Preemptive Aggression 

 

Lunar Geopolitics: The Battle for Three Lunar Domains (The Far side, South Pole & Cislunar Space)

October 2024 - Engelsberg Ideas


19 - The Demise and Durability of Ideas

(The Natural Selection of Ideas)

 

How do we predict which ideas pass the test of time?

August 2023 - The Montreal Review

Book: Sustainable History and Human Dignity

January 2022

The Natural Selection of Ideas: Prerequisites and Implications for Politics, Philosophy and History

May 2016 - Global Policy Journal





20 - A Dignity Scale / Index and Sustainable Governance

 

Measuring chaos: why the world needs a dignity index

June 2022 - CAPX

A Neuro-Philosophy of Dignity-Based Governance

October 2018 - APA

Proposal of a Dignity Scale for Sustainable Governance

January 2016 - The Oxford University Politics Blog

Proposal of a Dignity Scale for Sustainable Governance

November 2015 - Journal of Public Policy


21 - Sustainable Neurochemical Gratification

Interview: Living in Space

February 2021 - New Philosopher

Sustainable Governance of Future Outer Space Colonies

June 2018 - ETH Zurich

What will space exploration look like in the future?

March 2018 - World Economic Forum

23 - Sustainable National Security in a Transnational World

 
 
 

La neuro-philosophie et le transhumanisme

July 2020 - La-Philo

The Runaway Train of Cognitive Enhancement

December 2019 - Scientific American

Neurophilosophy and Transhumanism

February 2019 - APA

The “Sustainable History” Thesis: A Guide for Regulating Trans- and Post-Humanism

April 2018 - E-IR

Transhumanism and War

May 2015 - ISN Blog, ETH Zurich





25 - Free Will and NeuroModulation

 

Free Will in the Age of Neuromodulation

July 2018 - Philosophy Now

This is what mind-altering drugs and technology mean for free will

July 2018 - World Economic Forum






26 - Prerequisites for Rights and Dignity of Artificial Intelligent Agents

 

Artificial Intelligent Agents: Pre-requisites for rights and dignity

March 2018 - Age of Robots

The Moral Code: How to Teach Robots Right and Wrong

September 2015 - ISN Blog, ETH Zurich







27 - Geostrategy and Governance of AI & Brain-computer Interface(BCI)

 
 
 

Book: 21st-Century Statecraft

July 2022

Post-Truth Politics, the Fifth Estate and the Securitization of Fake News

June 2017 - Global Policy




30 - The GeoStrategic Tripwire Pivotal Corridor (TPC)

 

Book: 21st-Century Statecraft

July 2022

The Tripwire Pivotal Corridor Conflicts

October 2015 - GCSP




31 - Predisposed Tabula Rasa

 

Predisposed Tabula Rasa

May 2015 - OXPOL - Politics in Spires

Predisposed Tabula Rasa

April 2015 - Journal of Public Policy




32 - Social Contract 2:0

 
 

U.S. Space Policy and Strategic Culture

April 2018 - Journal of International Affairs

Towards A Common European Space Policy: In Pursuit Of Independence And Scientific Progress - Analysis

March 2018 - Eurasia Review

China Aims for the Moon - and Beyond

February 2018 - The Diplomat

Russia: Space Power And Strategic Culture – Analysis

February 2018 - Eurasia Review







34 - Geopolitics and New Space Politics for the New Space Age

Book: Sustainable History and Human Dignity

January 2022

A Neurophilosophical paradigm for a new Enlightenment

March 2020 - APA






37 - The Essential Tension Principle of Sustainable Governance:

(Balancing 3 Human Nature Attributes Vs. 9 Human Dignity Needs)

 
 
 
 

Book: 21st-Century Statecraft

July 2022

40 - On Grand Strategy: A TransDisciplinary Analysis