Professor of the Practice
[email protected]
Monterey, CA
831.647.6697
@HerzogSM
Areas of Research
- Global nuclear order and multilateral nuclear governance
- Nuclear arms control verification
- Disarmament and moving beyond nuclear deterrence
- Public opinion on nuclear weapons and nuclear energy
- Emerging and disruptive technologies
Background
Dr. Stephen Herzog is Professor of the Practice at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS). He is Academic Co-Chair of the Beyond Nuclear Deterrence Working Group, an initiative of the MacArthur Foundation and Harvard University’s Project on Managing the Atom. Dr. Herzog is drafting a book manuscript about multilateral nuclear arms control and has several other ongoing projects on nuclear deterrence, proliferation, and disarmament. He is also interested in the role of emerging and disruptive technologies in international security. His research draws on archival studies, elite interviewing, and survey experiments.
Prior to joining CNS, Dr. Herzog was a Lecturer and Senior Researcher in Nuclear Arms Control at ETH Zurich, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. He has also been a Research Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. Before completing his Ph.D. in Political Science at Yale University, Dr. Herzog was a Program Manager responsible for arms control treaty verification initiatives at the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration and also worked at the Federation of American Scientists. He has worked, researched, and traveled in over 100 countries.
Dr. Herzog’s research is published or forthcoming in Contemporary Security Policy, Energy Research & Social Science, International Security, the Journal of Conflict Resolution, the Journal for Peace and Nuclear Disarmament, the Journal of Peace Research, the Journal of Politics, the Naval War College Review, the Nonproliferation Review, Perspectives on Politics, Risk Analysis, and Survival. His public affairs commentary has been featured in outlets including Arms Control Today, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, the Financial Times, the National Interest, Science, War on the Rocks, and the Washington Post. He co-edited Atomic Backfires: When Nuclear Policies Fail (MIT Press, 2025).
Education
Dr. Herzog holds a B.A. in International Relations from Knox College, an M.A. in Security Studies from the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, and an M.A., M.Phil., and Ph.D. in Political Science from Yale University.
Selected Writing
- Artificial Intelligence and Nuclear Weapons Proliferation: The Technological Arms Race for (In)visibility
- Layered Verification: Irreversible Nuclear Disarmament and Highly Latent Nuclear States
- Winning Hearts and Minds? How the United States Reassured During the Russo-Ukrainian War
- The Trilateral Dilemma: Great Power Competition, Global Nuclear Order, and Russia’s War on Ukraine
- NATO and Emerging Technologies—The Alliance’s Shifting Approach to Military Innovation
- The Altered Nuclear Order in the Wake of the Russia-Ukraine War
- Under the Umbrella: Nuclear Crises, Extended Deterrence, and Public Opinion
- Beyond Nuclear Deterrence
- The War in Ukraine and Global Nuclear Order
- Durable Institution Under Fire? The NPT Confronts Emerging Multipolarity
- Antinormative Messaging, Group Cues, and the Nuclear Ban Treaty
- Backchannel Non-Proliferation: Militarily Non-Aligned States and Nuclear Diplomacy
- The First TPNW Meeting and the Future of the Nuclear Ban Treaty
- Public Opinion on Nuclear Energy and Nuclear Weapons: The Attitudinal Nexus in the United States
- Japanese Public Opinion, Political Persuasion, and the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons
- Correspondence: Clandestine Capabilities and Technological Diffusion Risks
- “What About China?” and the Threat to US–Russian Nuclear Arms Control
- The Nuclear Fuel Cycle and the Proliferation “Danger Zone”
- A Way Forward with North Korea: The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty
- The Nuclear Test Ban: Technical Opportunities For the New Administration
CNS Work
- Artificial Intelligence and Nuclear Weapons Proliferation: The Technological Arms Race for (In)visibility
Dr. Stephen Herzog co-authors one of the first academic articles exploring how AI might affect the spread of nuclear weapons. - Layered Verification: Irreversible Nuclear Disarmament and Highly Latent Nuclear States
This report offers a framework for managing proliferation-sensitive capabilities of advanced civilian nuclear powers and former nuclear-armed states. - Winning Hearts and Minds? How the United States Reassured During the Russo-Ukrainian War
CNS researcher co-authors academic study involving original public opinion surveys in 24 countries on 6 continents. - The treaty meant to control nuclear risks is under strain 80 years after the US bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Threats to the NPT suggest the world appears far removed from the vision of avoiding nuclear catastrophe. - CNS Experts Join Nobel Laureate Assembly for the Prevention of Nuclear War
On the 80th anniversary of the Trinity nuclear test explosion in Alamogordo, New Mexico, Nobel Laureates and nuclear experts convened at the University of Chicago. - A Challenged but Unbroken Nuclear Order
A new podcast episode checks in on the health of the global nuclear order. - Event on Nuclear Weapons in Russia-Ukraine War at Middlebury College
CNS engaged the Middlebury community on the nuclear dynamics of the ongoing conflict. - NATO and Emerging Technologies—The Alliance’s Shifting Approach to Military Innovation
This explores ongoing NATO activities and challenges adapting to the new era of defense innovation, emerging technologies, and great power competition. - Emerging and Disruptive Technologies Transform, but Do Not Lift, the Fog of War: Evidence from Russia’s War on Ukraine
New technologies add more complexity than clarity on battlefields. - The Trilateral Dilemma: Great Power Competition, Global Nuclear Order, and Russia’s War on Ukraine
Scholars and policy analysts have debated the health of the global nuclear order since the beginning of Russia’s February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
