The virtual seminar will be held from 12:30 to 2:00 p.m. (E.T.)
China’s nuclear modernization and build-up includes increasing the size, diversity, readiness, and accuracy of its nuclear arsenal. This is a striking departure from the small arsenal of land-based strategic nuclear weapons that it kept at a very low alert level for decades. This presentation will examine three possible changes to China's nuclear decision-making which can help to explain these developments, and illuminate what goals China's redesigned nuclear forces are intended to achieve. It also will consider what could be appropriate U.S. and allied policy responses.
About the speaker: Fiona Cunningham is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania. Previously, she was Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at George Washington University. She received her Ph.D. from the Department of Political Science at MIT in 2018 and was a fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Stanford’s Center for International Security and Cooperation, and Harvard’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. Her research interests lie at the intersection of technology and conflict, with a focus on China.