Dr Zeno Leoni is a Lecturer in War Studies Education at the Defence Studies Department of King’s College London, based within the Joint Services and Staff College (JSCSC) of the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom. He is also an affiliate to the Lau China Institute of King’s College London, where he is co-convenor of the same institute’s policy brief series China in the World. Since the AY 2020/2021 he has been a Visiting Scholar in Defence and Security Studies at Nebrija University, in Madrid.
Research

In 2021 he published a monograph titled American Grand Strategy from Obama to Trump: Imperialism After Bush and China’s Hegemonic Challenge (Cham: Palgrave Macmillan) and
a chapter on the New Cold War and the implications of Covid-19 in a collection titled The global impact of COVID-19 on rights and justice (Oxon: Routledge). In 2022 his book chapter on US-China competition in the MENA region will be published within a collection of essays titledThe Routledge Handbook on China in the Middle East and North Africa (Oxon: Routledge). Currently, Zeno is finishing a short book titled The China Conundrum: World Order and Economic Power, a text on Sino-Western relations aimed for a general audience.

Policy engagement
Dr. Leoni is engaging policy-makers in Italy and the UK. In 2020 he worked within the Italian Joint Chiefs of Defence Staff to write Italy’s first civil-military-produced Future Trends Concept 2040+ document, analysing future geopolitical, technological, environmental, and economic trends. Meanwhile, every year in Rome he delivers a guest lecture at the Italian Defence Higher Studies Institute (IASD), Italy’s premier defence education institution.
In the UK he recently supported the Permanent Joint Headquarters (PJHQ) during a Study Day on China. At the Joint Services and Staff College he teaches courses on China for the Higher Command and Staff Course (HCSC), whose members come from Five Eyes (FVEY) countries and have the rank of General or equivalent.
In June 2021 he organised a private roundtable with the Lau China Institute and the School of Security Studies of King’s College London and the Asia-Pacific Team of the HM Government Cabinet Office to discuss the Integrated review 2021. In September 2021 he wasinvited to the Oxford Indo-Pacific Symposium, a three-day long series of small-group discussions between academics, government, and think tanks happening behind closed doors at the Pembroke College of Oxford University.

Media engagement
Dr. Leoni’s commentaries on US-China relations and global politicsappeared on media such as The Times, Corriere della Sera, Rai Radio Uno, Limes, France24, TRT World, Libération,and Le Temps, in addition to a variety of podcasts. His recent analysis ofhow Taiwan may defend itself in a military conflict with China reached about 12.000 reads on The Conversation, while one of his latest commentaries on President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better World (B3W) can be found here.
Entrepreneurship
Zeno is the Executive Director of ITSS Verona (International Team for the Study of Security Verona), a not-for-profit cultural association committed to spreading knowledge in the broadly conceived field of International Security. ITSS Verona has 60 interns and a scientific committee of 100 scholars from all over the world. In October 2019, the association organized the biggest academic conference on Brexit, and in the Summer 2022 it is launching its first summer school.