Stephen Herzog

Stephen Herzog is a Visiting Scholar with the Project on Managing the Atom (MTA) of the Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. At MTA, he co-chairs the Beyond Nuclear Deterrence Working Group for the Research Network on Rethinking Nuclear Deterrence. Stephen is Professor of the Practice at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. He is drafting a book manuscript about multilateral nuclear arms control. His interests broadly focus on nuclear deterrence, (non)proliferation, and disarmament, alongside their intersection with emerging and disruptive technologies. Stephen’s research draws on archival studies, elite interviewing, and survey experiments.  

Prior to joining CNS, Stephen was a Senior Researcher and Lecturer at ETH Zurich, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, and a Research Fellow with MTA. He holds a Ph.D. with distinction in Political Science from Yale University, an M.A. in Security Studies from Georgetown University, and a B.A. in International Relations from Knox College. Before returning to academia, Stephen 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.

Stephen'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, Science, The National Interest, War on the Rocks, and the Washington Post. He co-edited Atomic Backfires: When Nuclear Policies Fail (MIT Press, 2025).