Making Sense of Nuclear Literature.

Dive deeper into the nuclear field, with some of the most fascinating authors and readers of our time.

About Us

Nuclear Reading Club

The NRC brings together researchers and participants from across the world to discuss a selected piece of literature in a monthly meeting, moderated by hosts Ariel Karn and Philipp Fischer.

To stay connected, you can join our WhatsApp group (just contact Jan or Ariel), or …

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Live Sessions

Join our monthly, live sessions for expert insights and community discussions with Ariel & Philipp.

Learning Community

Reach out to us and join our community to learn more about nuclear issues.

2025

January

Our guest was Jennie Gromoll from the U.S. Department of State, International Security and Nonproliferation Bureau.

Reading for the session: Gromoll, Jennie. 2021. The Fading Pipeline: Preparing the Next Generation of Weapons Inspectors. AJIL Unbound, 115, 100-105.

February

Our guest was Tong Zhao from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Washington, D.C.

Reading for the session: Zhao, Tong. 2024. Political Drivers of China’s Changing Nuclear Policy: Implications for U.S.-China Nuclear Relations and International Security. Report. Washington, D.C.: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

March

Our guest was Pavel Podvig from the UN Institute for Disarmament Research, Geneva.

Reading for the session: Podvig, Pavel. 2017. Did Star Wars Help End the Cold War? Soviet Response to the SDI Program. Science and Global Security 25 (1), 3-27.

2024

April

Our guests were Tim Thies and Dr. Alexander Graef, from the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy, University of Hamburg.

Reading for the Session: Graef, Alexander, Tim Thies. 2022. Lessons from the Past: Arms Control in Uncooperative Times. Global Security Policy Brief. London: European Leadership Network.

May

Our guest was Prof. Andrew Futter, from the University of Leicester.

Reading for the Session: Futter, Andrew. 2022. Deterrence, Disruptive Technology and Disarmament in the Third Nuclear Age. University of Leicester and the Hiroshima Organization for Global Peace.

June

Our guest was Dr. Mariana Budjeryn, from the Project on Managing the Atom at Harvard’s Belfer Center.

Reading for the Sessions: Budjeryn, Mariana. 2022. Inheriting the Bomb. The Collapse of the USSR and the Nuclear Disarmament of Ukraine, Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press. Introduction and Conclusion.

July

Our guest was Elena Grossfeld, from the King’s College London.

Reading for the Session: Grossfeld, Elena. 2024. Russia’s Declining Satellite Reconnaissance Capabilities and Its Implications for Security and International Stability. International Journal of Intelligence and CounterIntelligence, 1–30.

August

Our guest was Dr. Leonardo Bandarra from the University of Duisburg-Essen.

Reading for the Session: Bandarra, Leonardo & Martuscelli, Patrícia Nabuco. 2024. Moving Forward to a World Free of Nuclear Weapons (?): How Regional Issues Shape Global Non-proliferation and Disarmament Politics. Peace Review, 36 (2), 179–189.

September

Our first community session took place in September. In this session, we discussed our research interests, exchanged ideas and got to know each other a bit better.

October

Our guest was Prof. Benoît Pelopidas from the Nuclear Knowledges programme at Sciences Po Paris.

Reading for the Session: Pelopidas, Benoît & Egeland, Kjølv .2024. The false promise of nuclear risk reduction. International Affairs, 100 (1), 345-360.

November

Our guest was Dr. Hassan Elbahtimy from King’s College London.

Reading for the Session: Elbahtimy, Hassan. 2023. Approaching Irreversibility in Global Nuclear Politics. Journal for Peace and Nuclear Disarmament, 6 (2), 199-217.

December

Christmas break.