Nikolai Sokov

Senior Fellow

[email protected]
Vienna, Austria

Background

Beginning in 1981, Dr. Nikolai Sokov worked at the Institute of US and Canadian Studies and the Institute of World Economy and International Relations in Moscow. From 1987-92 he worked at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of the Soviet Union and later Russia, and participated in START I and START II negotiations as well as in a number of summit and ministerial meetings.

He has been invited to speak at numerous conferences and provide briefings to many organizations and governmental agencies, including:

• US Department of State
• US Department of Defense
• US Department of Energy
• Various committees of US Congress
• US national laboratories
• UK Defense Academy
• International Institute for Strategic Studies
• Fondation pour la Recherche Strategique
• Tomsk Polytechnical University

Education

Dr. Nikolai N. Sokov has a PhD from the University of Michigan (1996) and (the Soviet equivalent of a PhD) Candidate of Historical Sciences degree from the Institute of World Economy and International Relations (1986). He graduated from Moscow State University in 1981.

CNS Work

• Avoiding a Post-INF Missile Race
  Brief prepared for the CNS-CENESS US-Russia Dialogue on Nuclear Issues in Moscow.
• The Elusive Russian Nuclear Threshold
  The US debates a greater reliance on nuclear weapons as Russia seems to decrease it.
• The Hague Code of Conduct: Multivector Expansion
  At a UN event, Dr. Nikolai Sokov discusses risky but valuable changes to the missile regime.
• Nuclear Comeback Time in Europe?
  For arms control to survive, we must focus on what we need, not necessarily what we want.
• How NATO Could Solve the Suwalki Gap Challenge
  A close look at the Suwalki dilemma leads to three conclusions, all of them uncomfortable.
• A Unilateral, Reciprocal Post-INF Cool Down
  The time may be right to take a cue from the 1991 Presidential Nuclear Initiatives.
• The INF Treaty Crisis: Filling the Void with European Leadership
  In a post-INF world, who will agree to talk to Russia, and with whom will Russia agree to talk?
• The Presidential Nuclear Initiatives, 1991-1992
  An assessment of past performance and future relevance
• It Is Time to Update the President’s Nuclear Command Authority
  Increased oversight, under the right circumstances, would decrease the risk of any US president using nuclear weapons preemptively or without just cause.
• The Putin-Trump Summit: In Helsinki, Three Worldviews Will Clash
  The West’s clash with Russia is a preview of the conflicts that will arise in the coming decades.

• <<
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5
• 6
• 7
• 8
• >>

View list on separate page

Bibliography

Dr. Nikolai N. Sokov is the author or co-author of several monographs, including:

• Delegitimizing Nuclear Weapons: Examining the Validity of Nuclear Deterrence (2010)
• Reducing and Regulating Tactical (Nonstrategic) Nuclear Weapons in Europe (2009)
• Engaging China and Russia on Nuclear Disarmament (2009)
• Evolution of Nuclear Strategy in U.S. and Russia and its Implications for Arms Control (2003)
• Tactical Nuclear Weapons: Options for Control (2000)
• Russian Strategic Modernization: Past and Future (2000)
• Russian Policy Toward the Baltics: What the West Can Expect and What It Could Do (1999)

He is also co-author and co-editor of the first Russian-language college-level textbook on nuclear nonproliferation (Yadernoe Nerasprostranenie, Vol.I-II, PIR Center, 1st edition 2000, 2nd edition 2002).