Research, ideas, and leadership for a more secure, peaceful world
Speaker: Elmar Hellendoorn, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, International Security Program/Project on Managing the Atom
The story of the origins of the Euro-American nuclear order helps scholars and policymakers to think about the interaction of technology, strategy, and diplomacy in the atomic age. This transatlantic nuclear history shows how nuclear deterrence and nuclear non-proliferation interact. U.S. to NATO nuclear sharing emerged in reaction to French-led efforts to develop European integration in the strategic nuclear field. The resulting European nuclear order of the late 1950s is still largely in place, but it increasingly faces political and strategic challenges. Russian geopolitical assertiveness, the Trump Presidency, and Brexit create pressures to reassess Euro-American nuclear relations.
Dr. Elmar Hellendoorn focuses on the interaction of technology, strategy, and diplomacy in nuclear policy and adjacent geopolitical phenomena. As private consultant, he delivered policy advice on the nexus of national security and markets. His Ph.D thesis explores the historical interrelationship of NATO extended deterrence, European integration, and enrichment technology. Elmar holds a Ph.D. from Utrecht University; he was Eisenhower Fellow at the NATO Defence College and visiting researcher at the European University Institute. He holds M.A.s from the College of Europe (Bruges) and from Utrecht. He has worked as senior policy officer in the strategy unit of the Netherlands’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
