When leaders make nuclear threats, what are the implications for conflict and war? Why has Vladimir Putin issued nuclear threats in the context of the Russian war in Ukraine, and are those threats credible? In this talk, Lisa Koch will use past examples of threats and promises across the nuclear age as a foundation for thinking about how to interpret nuclear threats, and leaders’ responses to those threats.
Lisa Koch is Assistant Professor of Government at Claremont McKenna College. She received the 2023 Glenn R. Huntoon Award for Superior Teaching by a vote of the student body. Koch specializes in international relations. She is the author of the book Nuclear Decisions: Changing the Course of Nuclear Weapons Programs (Oxford University Press, 2023), and articles on topics like nuclear proliferation and foreign policy. Koch is a 2021 Stanton Foundation Nuclear Security Grant Program winner. Her work has also been funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York. She is a 2000 Harry S. Truman Scholar.
Professor P. Edward ("Ed") Haley (1939 - 2023) was the W. M. Keck Foundation Professor Emeritus of International Strategic Studies. He first arrived at CMC in 1968, eventually chairing the International Relations program and becoming the inaugural director of the Keck Center for International and Strategic Studies in 1984. From 2008 - 2014, he served as the director of the Center for Human Rights Leadership (now the Mgrublian Center for Human Rights). A highly esteemed expert in U.S. foreign policy—specifically U.S. policy in the Middle East, U.S.-European relations, and nuclear safety and arms control—Haley conducted research with members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. He was a prolific publisher of academic works, including Strategic Foreign Assistance: Civil Society in International Security and Strategies of Dominance: The Misdirections of U.S. Foreign Policy. His book, Revolution and Intervention: The Diplomacy of Taft and Wilson with Mexico, 1913-1915, won the Premio Sahagun, awarded by the Mexican National Institute of Anthropology and History. Haley earned a B.A. in History and M.A. in Political Science from Stanford University, along with a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Relations. In addition, he was a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army from 1962-64. He passed away on June 30, 2023, at the age of 83, and he is missed by generations of CMC faculty, staff, and students.
This lecture is co-sponsored by the Keck Center for International and Strategic Studies and the Mgrublian Center for Human Rights.
