The M.I.T. Nuclear Weapons Working Group and the Project on Managing the Atom are pleased to co-sponsor "Nuclear Security in South Asia" with
Rajeswari Pillai Rajagopalan and Arka Biswas
of the Observer Research Foundation. This event will take place
Monday, November 23, 2015
, from 2:00-3:30 pm at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
1 Amherst Street, Cambridge
, Building E40, 4th Floor (
Lucian Pye Conference Room).
Speaker Bios:
Dr. Rajeswari Pillai Rajagopalan is Senior Fellow and Head of the Nuclear and Space Policy Initiative at the Observer Research Foundation (ORF), New Delhi. Dr. Rajagopalan joined ORF after a five-year stint at the National Security Council Secretariat (2003-2007), where she was an Assistant Director. Prior to joining the NSCS, she was Research Officer at the Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses, New Delhi. She was also a Visiting Professor at the Graduate Institute of International Politics, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan in 2012. She is the author of four books: Nuclear Security in India (2015), Clashing Titans: Military Strategy and Insecurity Among Asian Great Powers (2012), The Dragon's Fire: Chinese Military Strategy and Its Implications for Asia (2009), and Uncertain Eagle: US Military Strategy in Asia (2009). She has also co-authored and edited five other books, including Iran Nuclear Deal: Implications of the Framework Agreement(2015). Her research articles have appeared in edited volumes, and in peer reviewed journals such as India Review, Strategic Studies Quarterly, Air and Space Power Journal, International Journal of Nuclear Law,Strategic Analysis and CLAWS Journal. Other writings have appeared in the Journal of Strategic Studies, Journal of Peace Research and Contemporary South Asia and she has also contributed essays to newspapers such as The Wall Street Journal, Times of India, Hindustan Times, Economic Times andPioneer. She has also lectured at Indian military and policy institutions such as the Defence Service and Staff College (Wellington), National Defence College (New Delhi), Army War College(Mhow), and the Foreign Service Institute (New Delhi). She has also been invited to speak at international fora including the UN COPUOS (Vienna), Conference on Disarmament (Geneva), UNIDIR (Geneva), ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) and the European Union.
Arka Biswas is a Junior Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation and works at the Nuclear and Space Policy Initiative. He is currently pursuing projects on Nuclear Developments in Iran, India's membership in the export control groups and Nuclear Security in India. His research areas include security, military and strategic affairs in South Asia and the Asia-Pacific. He is also the co-convener of the Asian Forum on Global Governance - an annual 10-day global governance school organised by ORF in partnership with the ZEIT-Stiftung, Hamburg. He has been a Visiting Fellow at the Stimson Center, Washington DC. He is a Physics graduate and has obtained his Masters in International Relations from University of Bristol. His work has appeared in peer-reviewed journals and foreign policy/international security magazines like Strategic Analysis, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Foreign Policy, the Diplomat, and the National Interest, among others.
