Putin and the Psychology of Nuclear Brinksmanship
Speakers: Dr. Rose McDermott (Brown University); Dr. Paul Slovic (Brown University) Date: 28 September 2023 Speaker Session Summary Forthcoming! Speaker Session Recording Forthcoming! Briefing Materials Biographies: Dr. Rose McDermott is the David and Mariana Fisher University Professor of International Relations at Brown University and a Fellow in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She […]
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Freedom in the World 2023: Marking 50 Years in the Struggle for Democracy
Speaker: Yana Gorokhovskaia (Freedom House) Date: 20 September 2023 Speaker Session Summary Forthcoming! Speaker Session Recording Briefing Materials: Report: https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2023/marking-50-years https://freedomhouse.org/report/transnational-repression Biography: Yana Gorokhovskaia is the Research Director for Strategy and Design at Freedom House where she oversees Freedom in the World, Transnational Repression, and Media and Democracy projects. Yana has a PhD in Political […]
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The Minds and Actions of Devoted Actors and the Will to Fight: A Behavioral and Brain Studies Approach to War and Extreme Group Conflict
Speaker: Dr. Scott Atran (University of Michigan) Date: 12 September 2023 Speaker Session Summary What drives warfighters to make costly sacrifices—including their lives—is a long-standing question that military and civilian leaders have tried to answer. Dr. Atran explained that this question can be studied through two different psychological models: 1) rational choice theory and 2) […]
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Russia’s Role in Global Nuclear Supply Chains
Speaker: Ms. Darya Dolzikova (RUSI) Date: 12 September 2023 Speaker Session Summary Ms. Dolzikova discussed how Russia’s civil nuclear sector has largely evaded the sanctions placed on the rest of the Russian economy since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. During her presentation she outlined the drivers of the global dependency on Russia’s civil […]
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Double deterrence: Two challengers, one defender
Author: Dr. Frank Zagare (University of Buffalo) Publication Preview During the cold war the conventional wisdom was that an all-out war between the United States and theSoviet Union was all but precluded. The key to this strategic nirvana was a carefully calibrated balance ofstrategic weapons and the high costs associated with nuclear conflict. The policy […]
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Strategic Culture – Its history, issues, and complexity
Authors: Dr. Lawrence A. Kuznar (NSI, Inc.); Nathan Heath (NSI, Inc.); George Popp (NSI, Inc.) Publication Preview The concept of strategic culture emerges in discussions of both tailored and integrated deterrence. Thisreport examines the concept’s history, current consensus, and enduring debates about what it entails. Italso proposes a model of strategic culture as a complex […]
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Nuclear Intimidation, A Russian Success Story
Speaker: Mr. Keir Giles (Chatham House) Date: 5 September 2023 Speaker Session Summary Russia’s long-term information operations (IO) and influence campaigns have altered how US and Western decision makers perceive the risk level of Russia using a nuclear weapon. Russian IO are designed to influence the decision makers through several levers, including through their constituents. […]
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Concepts of Influence Beyond Punishment and Denial: A Combined Effect Analysis of China, Russia, and Iran
Speaker: Brig Gen (Ret) Thomas Drohan (Professor Emeritus of Military and Strategic Studies, U.S. Air Force Academy; Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies) Date: 29 August 2023 Speaker Series Summary Authoritarian states more frequently use a whole-of-society approach to deterrence and coercion activities than democratic states. Because of many societal and geopolitical changes that have occurred […]
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US Command Perspectives on Campaigning in Support of Integrated Deterrence
Speakers: Ms. Michele Wolfe (USAFRICOM), Drs. Emily Goldman and Michael Warner (USCYBERCOM), Mr. James “JJ” Jenista (USNORTHCOM and NORAD), Mr. Robert Jones (USSOCOM), Mr. Howard Simkin (USASOC), Ms. Kayse Jansen (USSTRATCOM) Date: 10 August 2023 Speaker Session Summary The complex nature of the modern threat environment and geopolitical competition, especially competition in the gray zone, has […]
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U.S. Strategy and Force Posture for an Era of Nuclear Tripolarity
Speakers: Dr. Keir Lieber (Georgetown University); Dr. Daryl Press (Dartmouth College) Date: 6 September 2023 Speaker Session Summary US nuclear deterrence has changed drastically during the last few decades. One of the factors forcing the US to change its nuclear deterrence doctrine was the emergence of nuclear tripolarity between the US, China, and Russia. How […]
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