Jeffrey Knopf – Professor ⋅ Senior Research Associate
Program Chair, Nonproliferation and Terrorism Studies
[email protected]
Monterey, CA
831.647.7174
Areas of Research
- Causes, consequences, and amelioration of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons proliferation
- Deterrence, assurances, and other security strategies, and their applications to threats posed by terrorism and WMD proliferation
- International security cooperation, including arms control, cooperative threat reduction, and multilateral nonproliferation regimes
- Peace movements, NGOs, and public opinion, and their influences on foreign policy
- International Relations Theory, with a focus on the interaction of domestic and international politics, psychological influences on decision-making, and the prospects for learning in international affairs
Background
Before joining the MIIS faculty, Dr. Jeffrey Knopf taught at the University of Southern California, the University of California-Santa Cruz, and the Naval Postgraduate School. He worked once before at CNS, where he served as Editor of The Nonproliferation Review from 1998-2000. He has also worked on national defense issues at several NGOs based in Washington, DC. In 2011, Dr. Knopf was part of a team commissioned by the U.S. Defense Department to study ways to deter and influence violent extremism.
Education
- M.A. and Ph.D. in Political Science from Stanford University
- B.A. in Social Studies from Harvard University
CNS Work
- Russia’s War on Ukraine: The Implications for the Global Nuclear OrderA seminar video with speakers Dr. Iryna Maksymenko, Dr. Valeriia Gergiieva, Ms. Valeriia Hesse, and Dr. Tetyana Melnyk.
- Why the Ukraine war does not mean more countries should seek nuclear weaponsThe full balance sheet of pros and cons from both Ukraine and earlier cases does not lead to a persuasive argument for nuclear proliferation.
- Russia isn’t likely to use chemical weapons in Ukraine – unless Putin grows desperateThere are unconfirmed reports Russia used chemical weapons in Ukraine. Syria’s chemical weapons use offers context for this tactic.
- Not by NPT Alone: The Future of the Global Nuclear OrderThe Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) entered into force 50 years ago. Catch up on the international arrangements and how they have been eroding.
- Masters Students in Dual Degree Program Defend ThesesStudents from Russia, the United States and South Korea presented their final papers as the result of their studies in 2019-2021.
- Behavioral Economics and Nuclear WeaponsNew book shows how nuclear choices deviate from “rational” decision making.
- The Future of the Iran Nuclear Deal: Implications of US WithdrawalVIDEO: Seminar with CNS & MIIS experts took place on May 22, 2018, at CNS of MIIS in Monterey.
- Behavioral Economics and Nuclear WeaponsThis CNS report explores implications of research in behavioral economics for policies related to nuclear weapons including nonproliferation efforts
- International Cooperation on WMD NonproliferationA new book edited by Jeffrey W. Knopf, MIIS Nonproliferation and Terrorism Studies M.A. program chair.
- Iran Nuclear Deal Roundtable DiscussionVideo: a roundtable discussion was held on April 9th, 2015 with Jeffrey Knopf moderating.
Selected Bibliography
- “Nuclear Disarmament and Nonproliferation: Examining the Linkage Argument,” International Security 37, no. 3 (Winter 2012/13).
- Editor, Security Assurances and Nuclear Nonproliferation (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2012).
- “NGOs, Social Movements, and Arms Control,” in Arms Control: History, Theory, and Policy, ed. Robert E. Williams, Jr. and Paul R. Viotti (ABC-CLIO/Praeger, 2012).
- “The Concept of Nuclear Learning,” Nonproliferation Review 19, no. 1 (March 2012).
- “The Fourth Wave in Deterrence Research,” Contemporary Security Policy 31, no. 1 (April 2010). Winner of the Bernard Brodie Prize for best article in the journal in 2010.
- “Three Items in One: Deterrence as Concept, Research Program, and Political Issue,” in Complex Deterrence: Strategy in the Global Age, ed. T.V. Paul, Patrick Morgan, and James Wirtz (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2009).
- “Recasting the Proliferation Optimism-Pessimism Debate,” Security Studies 12, no. 1 (Autumn 2002).
- Domestic Society and International Cooperation: The Impact of Protest on U.S. Arms Control Policy, Cambridge Studies in International Relations no. 60 (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1998).
- “Beyond Two-Level Games: Domestic-International Interaction in the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Negotiations,” International Organization 47, no. 4 (Autumn 1993).