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Dominic Johnson

MSc DPhil (Oxon), MA PhD (Geneva)

Academic Staff
Alastair Buchan Chair of International Relations
Co-Director, Oxford Martin School "Natural Governance" Programme
AFFILIATION
International Relations Network
College
St Antony's College
Students
email
dominic.johnson@politics.ox.ac.uk
phone
+44(0)1865 284700

Dominic Johnson received a DPhil from the University of Oxford in evolutionary biology, and a PhD from Geneva University in political science. Drawing on both disciplines, he is interested in how new research on evolution, biology and human nature is challenging theories of international relations, conflict, and cooperation. His new book, Strategic Instincts: The Adaptive Advantages of Cognitive Biases in International Politics (Princeton University Press, 2020), challenges the common view that human cognitive biases are unfortunate errors or mistakes that lead inevitably to policy failures, disasters, and wars. Rather, it argues they are adaptive heuristics that evolved because they helped us make good decisions, not bad ones. Under the right conditions, these “strategic instincts” continue to lend a competitive edge in international relations. His previous books are: God is Watching You: How the Fear of God Makes Us Human (Oxford University Press, 2015), which examines the role of religion in the evolution of cooperation, and how cross-culturally ubiquitous and ancient beliefs in supernatural punishment have helped to overcome major challenges of human society; Failing to Win: Perceptions of Victory and Defeat in International Politics (Harvard University Press, 2006), with Dominic Tierney, examines how and why popular misperceptions commonly create undeserved victories or defeats in international wars and crises; and Overconfidence and War: The Havoc and Glory of Positive Illusions (Harvard University Press, 2004), which argues that common psychological biases to maintain overly positive images of our capabilities, our control over events, and the future, play a key role in the causes of war. His current work focuses on the role of evolutionary dynamics, evolutionary psychology, and religion in human conflict and cooperation. Dominic is also Co-Director of the Oxford Martin School Natural Governance Programme.

 

Professional Responsibilities

Co-Founder, Oxford Martin School Natural Governance Programme

Fellow, International Society for Science and Religion

Research

Foreign Policy and diplomacy, Global governance, History, Human nature, International cooperation, International relations, International security, Power, Religion, Violence security and conflict

Dominic Johnson

Publications

Google Scholar Stats: 9,908 citations, h-Index 41, i10-index 76.

Books

Journal Articles

 

Book Chapters

  • Johnson, DDP (2022) What Viruses Want: Evolutionary Insights for the Covid-19 Pandemic and Lessons for the Next One. In Pandemics: A Multidisciplinary Approach, edited by Jean-Michel Marcoux and Brooke A. Ackerly  Philippe Bourbeau. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Johnson, DDP (2020) The Next Generation: Evolutionary Perspectives on Religion and Human Flourishing. In: Religion and Human Flourishing (ed. Adam B. Cohen), Baylor: Baylor University Press.
  • Johnson, DDP (2016) Leadership in War: Evolution, Cognition, and the Military Intelligence Hypothesis. In: Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology (ed. DM Buss), Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
  • Tecza, A & Johnson, DDP (2015) Leadership. In: Emerging Trends in the Social and Behavioral Sciences: An Interdisciplinary, Searchable, and Linkable Resource (eds. RA Scott and SM Kosslyn), pp, 1-15, Wiley.
  • Johnson, DDP & Reeve, Z (2013) The Virtues of Intolerance: Is Religion an Adaptation for War? In: Religion, Intolerance and Conflict: A Scientific and Conceptual Investigation (eds. S Clarke, R Powell & J Savulescu), pp. 67-87, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Johnson, DDP (2013) The uniqueness of human cooperation: cognition, cooperation and religion. In: Evolution, Games and God: The Principle of Cooperation(eds. MA Nowak & S Coakley), Cambridge MA:Harvard University Press.
  • Price, ME & Johnson, DDP (2011) The adaptationist theory of cooperation in groups: evolutionary predictions for organizational cooperation. In: Evolutionary Psychology in the Business Sciences(ed. G Saad), pp. 95-133, Springer.
  • Hardie, I, Johnson, DDP & Tierney, DR (2011) Psychological aspects of war. In: The Handbook on the Political Economy of War(eds. CJ Coyne & RL Mathers), pp. 72-92, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
  • Johnson, DDP (2009) The error of God: Error management theory, religion, and the evolution of cooperation. In: Games, Groups, and the Global Good(ed. SA Levin), pp. 169-180, Berlin:Springer.
  • Van Vugt, M, Johnson, DDP, Kaiser, RB & O’Gorman, R (2008) Evolution and the social psychology of leadership: the mismatch hypothesis. In:Leadership at the Crossroads: Leadership and Psychology, vol. 1, (eds. CL Hoyt, GR Goethals & DR Forsyth), pp. 267-282, New York: Praeger.
  • Johnson, DDP (2008) Gods of war: The adaptive logic of religious conflict. In:The Evolution of Religion: Studies, Theories, and Critiques(eds. J Bulbulia, R Sosis, C Genet, R Genet, E Harris & K Wyman),Santa Margarita, CA: Collins Foundation Press.
  • Johnson, DDP, Price, M & Takezawa, M (2008) Renaissance of the individual: reciprocity, positive assortment, and the puzzle of human cooperation. In: Foundations of Evolutionary Psychology: Ideas, Issues and Applications(eds. C Crawford and D Krebs), New York: Erlbaum.
  • Johnson, DDP & Madin, JS (2008) Population models and counterinsurgency strategies. In: Natural Security: A Darwinian Approach to a Dangerous World(eds. RD Sagarin & T Taylor), Berkeley and Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press.
  • Johnson, DDP & Madin, EMP (2008) Paradigm shifts in security strategy: why does it take disasters to trigger change? In: Natural Security: A Darwinian Approach to a Dangerous World(eds. RD Sagarin & T Taylor), Berkeley and Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press.
  • Johnson, DDP & Tierney, D (2007) In the eye of the beholder: victory and defeat in U.S. military operations. In: Understanding Victory and Defeat in Contemporary War(eds. J Angstrom and I Duyvesteyn), pp. 46-76, London: Routledge.
  • Macdonald, DW & Johnson, DDP (2001) Dispersal in theory and practice: consequences for conservation biology, In: Dispersal(ed. J. Clobert et al.), pp. 361-374, Oxford: OUP.

 

Commentaries & Reviews

  • Friedman, J & Johnson, DDP (2024). Dealing with uncertainty and cognitive biases in international politics. Critical Dialogue, Political Psychology. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.13004
  • Johnson, DDP (2015) Big Gods, small wonder: supernatural punishment strikes back. Religion, Brain & Behavior In Press.
  • Johnson, DDP & Toft, MD (2015). Bringing “geo” back into politics: evolution, territoriality and the contest over Ukraine (with commentaries).Cliodynamics: The Journal of Quantitative History and Cultural Evolution 5: 87-122.
  • Reeve, Z & Johnson, DDP (2013) Identity (con)fusion: social groups and the stickiness of social glue (a commentary on Harvey Whitehouse). Cliodynamics: The Journal of Theoretical and Mathematical History 4 (2): 314-319.
  • Johnson, DDP & Fowler, JH (2013) Complexity and Simplicity in the Evolution of Decision-Making Biases. Trends in Ecology & Evolution28 (8): 446-447.
  • Johnson, DDP (2012) Natural Security: 3.5 Billion Years of Adapting to Novel Threats. Political Insight 3 (2):12-15.
  • Johnson, DDP (2011) Why God is the best punisher. Religion, Brain & Behavior1 (1): 77-84.
  • Johnson, DDP (2009) God would be a costly accident: supernatural beliefs as adaptive. Behavioral and Brain Sciences32 (6): 523-524.
  • Johnson, DDP & Van Vugt, M (2009) A history of war: the role of inter-group conflict in sex differences in aggression. Behavioral and Brain Sciences32(3/4): 280-281.
  • Johnson, DDP (2009) Beyond Belief: A review of “The Supernatural and Natural Selection: Religion and Evolutionary Success” by Lyle B. Steadman and Craig T. Palmer. Evolution & Human Behavior30: 225-228.

 

Policy Briefs

  • Johnson, DDP & Toft, MD (2014) Grounds for Hope: The Evolutionary Science behind Territorial Conflict. Policy Brief, Belfer Center for Science and International AffairsPolicy Brief Document, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.
  • Johnson, DDP & Tierney, D (2011) Crossing the Rubicon: the perils of committing to a decision. Belfer Center for Science and International AffairsPolicy Brief Document, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.

 

Selected popular press and media

  • Johnson, DDP“Divided We Fall: The One Culture, the Next Generation, and 21st Century Challenges”, 19 Sept 2016 Social Evolution Forum
  • Johnson, DDP& Lopez, A “The Ends of War: Human Evolution and the Origins of Inter-Group Violence” 04 March 2016 This View of Life
  • Johnson, DDP “Overconfidence and the War in Syria” Political Violence @ a Glance, 19 Nov 2015.
  • Johnson, DDP “What Isn't Evolutionary Psychology?” This View of Life, 6 May 2015.
  • Johnson, DDP & Thayer, BA “Why Man Seeks Power” The National Interest, 01 April 2014.
  • Deane-Drummond, C, Johnson, DDP, Fuentes, A & Lovin, R “Highly Evolved Questions: What Scientists and Theologians Talk About” Christian Century, 7 August 2013.
  • Johnson, DDP “Welcome to the Jungle: Anarchy From the Amazon to the Atomic Age” Edge, 6/6/13.
  • Johnson, DDP “D-Day: Darwin’s March on Politics” This View of Life, 12 Feb 2013
  • Johnson, DDP & Thayer, BA “What Our Primate Relatives Say About War” The National Interest, 29 Jan 2013.
  • Johnson, DDP“Why Are We Sometimes More Likely to Succeed When We Are Overconfident?” Science and Religion Today, 20 Sept 2010 [web link].
  • Johnson, DDP & Tierney, D “Why Does bin Laden's Death Feel Like a Triumph?” The Atlantic, 5 May 2011.
  • Johnson, DDP & Fowler, JH “On Overconfidence”, Seed Magazine, January 2010.
  • Johnson, DDP & Tierney, D “The Wars of Perception”, New York Times(op-ed), 28 November 2006, A23. (Reprinted in the International Herald Tribune as “A Mirage of Defeat in the Desert?”).
  • Johnson, DDP “Why the War Looks Lost”, Lettre Internationale(Copenhagen), July 2007.

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