Zeno Leoni Keynote Speaker

Lecturer in War Studies at King’s College London
Internationally-leading expert in US-China relations
Author of 'Grand Strategy and the Rise of China' (2023) & 'A New Cold War: US-China Relations in the 21st Century' (2026)

Zeno Leoni's Biography

Zeno Leoni is an Assistant Professor at the Defence Studies Department of King’s College London within the Joint Services Command and Staff College of the United Kingdom. His research focuses on West–China relations – with a particular focus on US- and UK-China relations – and the evolving international order.

His latest book is titled A New Cold War: US-China Relations in the 21st Century (Bristol University Press, 2024), and he is currently working on a new book on the end of the post–Cold War international order and the return of geopolitical blocs, developing an argument previously published on Survival – https://doi.org/10.1080/00396338.2024.2332056

Dr Leoni has taught armed forces from all over the world, both in Shrivenham and in the Netherlands, Indonesia, Brazil, Germany at the NATO School Oberammergau, and Italy, among other countries. In 2024 he was an adjunct professor at the Republic of Indonesia Defence University (RIDU), and in spring 2025 he was a Fudan Fellow at Fudan University in Shanghai.

US/UK/West-China relations

The changing international order after the end of the post-Cold War era, and the return of geopolitical blocs - this ties well into debates on a potential World War III

Chinese foreign policy

US foreign policy under the second Trump administration

International security

He advises governments and defence institutions on US–China relations and international security, bringing audiences insight into the strategic thinking shaping global power competition.
He translates complex geopolitical shifts between China, the United States and the West into clear analysis that helps leaders understand risk and anticipate global change.
As a lecturer in War Studies at King’s College London’s Defence Studies Department within the UK Defence Academy, he combines academic expertise with real-world policy engagement.
His research and books on grand strategy and the rise of China help audiences understand the defining geopolitical rivalry of the coming decade.
His media commentary and advisory work place him at the centre of debates on global security, strategy and Sino-Western relations.