Lyon Tower

Artificial intelligence is an epoch-defining technology. It will radically change how wars are planned, fought, and sustained. This rapid technological development demands the attention of future military leaders. In this talk, Dr. Josiah Lippincott, a Marine veteran and current WVU Washington Center professor, will explore AI’s strategic, operational, and tactical applications and its potential to transform the economics and logistics of war. AI raises fundamental questions about command: how neural networks can support decision-making and planning, where human judgment remains essential, and what leadership requires as machines assume greater responsibility for life-and-death decisions.

Dr. Josiah Lippincott is an Assistant Professor of Statesmanship at the Washington Center. He received his Ph.D. in Politics from Hillsdale College in 2026 and earned his M.A. and B.A. in Politics in 2022 and 2016, respectively.

Lippincott's research focuses on American political thought, classical and modern political philosophy, and the history of American foreign policy. His dissertation, To Match Slaughter with Greater Slaughter: FDR, the Pacific War, and the Birth of the New World Order, examines the transformation of American foreign-policy principles from the Founding through the Second World War, with particular attention to Franklin Roosevelt and the Pacific War.

Before beginning his academic career, Lippincott served from 2016 to 2020 as a United States Marine Corps artillery officer with 5th Battalion, 11th Marines, including a 2019 deployment to Okinawa through the Unit Deployment Program. He was a Publius Fellow at the Claremont Institute in 2020.