Key Factors in Crisis Escalation
Author: Egle Murauskaite (University of Maryland) Publication Preview Over the past decade, the nature of international conflict has increasingly turned away from state-versus-state warfare becoming, instead, typified as relatively low-level crises. Different authors and institutionshave characterized this as gray zone warfare, hybrid warfare, or competition-short-of-war. The tools (i.e.,courses of action) used in this deliberately ambiguous […]
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Russian Nuclear Rhetoric 2014-2023: Transatlantic Differences in Threat Perception
Author: Egle Murauskaite (University of Maryland) Publication Preview After decades of discourse on disarmament and non-proliferation, the war in Ukraine has effectively marked the return of nuclear weapons to both mainstream public rhetoric and military-policy planning, and highlighted the growing importance of strategic deterrence. Russia’s progressively more intense nuclear saber-rattling over the past decade is […]
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Assessing the Impact of China’s Slowing Economy on CCP Legitimacy using Hyperlocal Population Data
Speaker: Katherine Ly (Fraym) Date: 21 March 2024 Speaker Session Summary The Chinese economy has enjoyed massive growth during the last few decades as its economy transitioned from mostly agrarian to the world’s largest trading nation and an industrial superpower. This trend of Chinese economic growth has drastically slowed or reversed in several key areas. […]
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Upstart: How China Became a Great Power
Speaker: Dr. Oriana Skylar Mastro (Stanford University) Date: 12 March 2024 Speaker Session Summary China’s ascent as a formidable challenger to the United States, both economically and militarily, represents a significant shift from just a quarter-century ago. In her recent book, “Upstart: How China Became a Great Power,” Dr. Mastro delves into the rapid trajectory […]
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Moloch, the Meta-Crisis, and Integrated Nuclear Deterrence
Authors: The Media Ecology and Strategy Analysis Group (MESA) Research Team Members: Dr. Skye Cooley (Oklahoma State University); Dr. Sumin Shin (Oklahoma State University); Dr. Aysa Cooley (Oklahoma State University); Dr. Rosemary Avance (Oklahoma State University) Student Researchers: Dru Norton, Kelli Leech, Campbell Clark Publication Preview This project examines global perspectives on evolving nuclear challenges […]
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Why, What, and How Free Societies Must Develop Effective Deterrence of Actors Intending Bad Ends Given Our GenAI Era
Speaker: Dr. David Bray (Stimson Center; LeadDoAdapt Ventures) Date: 13 March 2024 Speaker Session Summary The advent of widespread internet access and the emergence of new forms of generative AI (GenAI) have broken down the physical boundaries that once separated international and intranational communities. Dr. Bray delineates three overarching trends that delineate the interplay between […]
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Building Solutions to Post-conflict Stabilization
Speakers: Dr. Beatrice Heuser (University of Glasgow) with Guest Host Jack Gaines (One CA Podcast) Date: 6 March 2024 Speaker Session Summary The optimal outcome of any military conflict is a lasting peace in the post-war period. Professor Heuser discusses insights from historical and ongoing conflicts that shed light on the factors influencing the establishment […]
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China and the Global South: Big Ambitions, Big Challenges
Speaker: Michael Schuman (Atlantic Council) Date: 27 February 2024 Speaker Session Summary China’s economic slowdown coupled with its ambition to continuously compete with the US both economically and politically is compelling Beijing to intensify its efforts to increase political influence in the Global South. Mr. Schuman, who authored an article on why China will struggle […]
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Extended Deterrence across the Continuum of Conflict
Speaker: Dr. Maximilian Hoell (LLNL) Date: 20 February 2024 Speaker Session Summary Since the end of the Cold War, US extended deterrence has undergone significant evolution, initially appearing to diminish in importance with the perceived decrease in the need for a robust nuclear arsenal following the collapse of the Soviet Union. However, China’s fast-growing nuclear […]
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The Future of US-Russian Relations
Speaker: Thomas Graham (Council on Foreign Relations) Date: 22 February 2024 Speaker Session Summary Even in the event of a military defeat suffered by Russia at the hands of Ukraine, it will continue to pose a formidable adversary to the US for the foreseeable future. Despite this adversarial stance, there will also be opportunities for […]
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