ISWS Public Lecture -- From Soviet to Russian Nuclear Strategy

What is Russian nuclear strategy today and how has it changed since Soviet times? This lecture will explore Russian deterrence strategy and the role of nuclear weapons in it -- from the late Cold War until today. It suggests that despite its more aggressive foreign policy behaviour, Russian nuclear strategy is still oriented primarily toward deterring aggression.

Dr Kristin Ven Bruusgaard is a Postdoctoral Fellow (Assistant Professor) at the University of Oslo. Her research focuses on Russian nuclear strategy, deterrence and crisis dynamics. She has previously been a Nuclear Security Postdoctoral Fellow and a Stanton Nuclear Security Predoctoral Fellow at the Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC), Stanford University, a Research Fellow at the Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies (IFS), and a senior security policy analyst in the Norwegian Armed Forces. She holds a PhD in Defence Studies from King's College London and an MA in Security Studies from Georgetown University. Her previous work has been published in Security Dialogue, Survival, War on the Rocks, Texas National Security Review, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Parameters and by The National Interest. She is currently writing a book on the history of Russian nuclear strategy from the 1980s to today.