Senior Deep Cuts Commission

is a Senior Researcher in the Weapons of Mass Destruction and other Strategic Weapons Programme at UNIDIR. and a Consultant at PIR Center. He has previously been a Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Advanced American Studies of the Institute of the International Studies at the MGIMO University of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Research Fellow at the Center for Global Trends and International Organizations of the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Visiting Research Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), PIR Center’s „Russia and Nuclear Nonproliferation“ Program Director, and the Editor-in-Chief of monthly e-bulletin “Yaderny Kontrol” (“Nuclear Control”). Andrey Baklitskiy is a columnist for the Russian newspapers RBC and Kommersant and the website of the Carnegie Moscow Center, a regular contributor to Russian and international media. He taught courses on nuclear nonproliferation and emerging technologies at the MGIMO University of the Russian Foreign Ministry and the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

Expertise

Nuclear risk reduction | Multilateral arms control | US-Russian strategic relations

holds the Stanton Nuclear Security Fellowship at the MIT Center for International Studies. Prior to that she directed the Eurasia Nonproliferation Program at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies. Her research focuses on U.S.-Soviet and U.S.-Russia non-proliferation and arms control cooperation, as well as the non-proliferation regime more broadly. Bidgood is the coeditor with Dr. William Potter of Once and Future Partners: The United States, Russia, and Nuclear Non-proliferation. She also leads the CNS Young Women in Nonproliferation Initiative, which aims to encourage more undergraduate women to pursue careers in nuclear policy. Bidgood is the author of numerous articles on nonproliferation and arms control, which have appeared in International Security, Arms Control Today, The Nonproliferation Review, Foreign Policy, The National Interest, War on the Rocks, Teen Vogue, and other publications. She has also provided commentary for media outlets such as The Washington Post, CNN, NBC, NPR, The Guardian, Vice News, DefenseOne, and VOX, among others.

Expertise

Nuclear arms control | Nuclear non-proliferation | Iranian nuclear program | US-Russian strategic relations

is a Senior Researcher at the Center for International Security of the Primakov Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO) of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS). He graduated from St. Petersburg ITMO University in 2002. Bogdanov received a Ph.D. (Candidate of Science degree) in technical science. For more than a decade he has been a contributor to the Russian media on arms control, military-political and military-technical issues.

Expertise

Military and strategic studies | Nuclear strategy | Strategic stability | Nuclear arms control | Emerging technologies

is a special correspondent at the Kommersant newspaper in Moscow, Russia. She is member of Presidium of the Council on Foreign and Defence Policy (SVOP) and member of the Board of the PIR Center. She holds a Ph.D. in history from the Moscow Lomonossov State University.

Expertise

Arms control | Non-proliferation of WMD | Cyber security

is a Professor of physics and a Researcher at the Center for Energy and Security Studies (CENESS) at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology as well as a leading Researcher at the Primakov Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO) of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS). Diakov has written papers on nuclear arms reductions, the history of Russia’s plutonium production, disposition options for excess plutonium, and the feasibility of converting Russia’s icebreaker reactors from highly enriched to low-enriched uranium as well as on many other topics relating to nuclear arms control and disarmament. He is the author and co-author of more than 40 scientific publications, among which: “Are There Any Prospects For START Replacement?” (Nezavisimoe Voennoe Obozrenie, No 8, 2008); “US-Russian Strategic Arms Control After 2009. Room For The Compromise” (Security Index, Winter 2008); “ReSTART: The Need for a New U.S. Russian Strategic Arms Agreement” (Arms Control Today, September 2006).

Expertise

Nuclear arms control l Utilization of excess quantities of weapons-usable nuclear materials l Development of nuclear energy in the context of the nuclear non-proliferation regime

Alexander Graef is a Senior Policy Fellow at the European Leadership Network, where he leads the Russia–West program, and a non-resident fellow at the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg (IFSH). From March 2019 to June 2025, he worked as a Senior Researcher at the IFSH, where he was part of the Arms Control and Emerging Technologies transfer and research project, funded by the German Federal Foreign Office.

His academic and policy work on arms control, Russian foreign and defence policy, and European defence issues has been widely published, including by the Journal of International Relations and Development, the Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI), the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) and War on the Rocks. He is a former fellow of the Arms Control Negotiation Academy (ACONA), hosted by the Negotiation Task Force at Harvard University’s Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, and participates in the Euro-Atlantic Security Leadership Group (EASLG).

Expertise

Russia Foreign and Defence Policy, Arms Control and Conventional Forces, Conventional–Nuclear Interaction and Escalation Dynamics, NATO-Russia relations

is a former Colonel General. He graduated from Dzerzhinsky Artillery Academy and received a degree in command and staff and operational strategic activity at Marshal Voroshilov Military Academy of the WPRA General Staff. From August 1994 to December 1996 he served as Chief of Staff and Vice Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Strategic Rocket Forces. Between December 1996 and February 2002, Esin worked at the Presidential Administration of Russia: first in the administration of the Defence Board and later in the administration of the Security Council. Since March 2002, he has served as a consultant of the Commander of Strategic Rocket Forces. Esin has worked at the Institute of the United States and Canada of the Russian Academy of Sciences as a leading researcher since July 2002. Additionally, since 2015, he is a leading Researcher at the Faculty of World Politics, Lomonosov Moscow State University, and Candidate of Military Sciences, Professor of the Russian Academy of Military Sciences.

Expertise

International security l Disarmament l Arms control

has been a professor in the School of Public Policy since 1988 at the University of Maryland. He has served there as Associate Provost since 2013 and as Dean of the Graduate School since 2017. He served for five years in the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) in the White House during the Obama Administration, and until January 2017 led OSTP’s national security and international affairs division. Other governmental experience includes stints at the Department of State and the Department of Defense, and service as an advisor or consultant to the Department of Energy, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Central Intelligence Agency, the Department of Homeland Security, the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, and the Office of Technology Assessment. His academic experience includes fellowships at Stanford’s Center for International Security and Cooperation and Harvard’s Center for Science and International Affairs.

Expertise

Nuclear arms control and nonproliferation l Nuclear energy and releases of radiation l Climate change and low-carbon energy supply

is a Senior Fellow at the Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation (VCDNP) since October 2015. In addition, she holds a number of other functions, inter alia as Vice President of the International Institute for Peace in Vienna, Visiting Professor and Member of the Strategic Committee at the Paris School of International Affairs (SciencesPo), Visiting Professor at the Tsinghua University Schwarzman Scholars in Beijing, and Chair of the United Nations University Council. Kane has served in many positions during her career at the United Nations. Until mid-2015, she served as the United Nations High Representative for Disarmament Affairs. Between May 2008 and 2012, she was Under-Secretary-General for Management. She served twice in the Department for Political Affairs, as Assistant Secretary-General and previously as Director. She supported several special political missions in Iraq, Nepal and the Middle East, and established the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala. Her field experience includes Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE), a special assignment to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and multi-year postings in Indonesia and Thailand.

Expertise

Political relations and negotiations l Multilateral arms control and disarmament l International institutions l Peace operations

is a former U.S. diplomat with extensive experience in multilateral arms control and nonproliferation. She began her work in arms control with the Conventional Forces in Europe negotiations and returned to Vienna to serve as the Deputy Chief of the U.S. Mission to International Organizations and also served there twice as Charge d'Affaires in 2001 and 2014-15. Appointed by President Obama as his Representative to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, Kennedy served concurrently as the Special Representative for Biological Weapons Convention Issues. Among Kennedy's other assignments were Russia (twice), Turkey, Ambassador to Turkmenistan, Deputy Commandant of the National War College and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs. Kennedy is a member of the Academy of Diplomacy, a founding Director of Foreign Policy 4 America, and a member of the Boards of the Arms Control Association and the Center for Arms Control and Nonproliferation. She writes and speaks on arms control and nonproliferation, U.S. politics and Central Asia.

Expertise

Nuclear arms control and Nonproliferation l Central Asia

is the Executive Director of the Arms Control Association since September 2001. Previously, from 1997 to 2001, he was the executive director of the Coalition to Reduce Nuclear Dangers, a consortium of 17 of the largest U.S. non-governmental organizations working together to strengthen national and international security by reducing the threats posed by nuclear weapons. From 1989-1997, Daryl worked as the Associate Director for Policy and later, the Director of Security Programs for Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR). Through PSR, Daryl helped spearhead non-governmental efforts to win Congressional approval for the 1992 nuclear test moratorium legislation, to extend the test moratorium in 1993, to win U.S. support for a "zero-yield" test ban treaty, and for the U.N.'s 1996 endorsement of the CTBT. Daryl is a frequent source for reporters and has written and spoken extensively about nuclear arms control and non-proliferation, and weapons production. In 2004, National Journal recognized him as one of the ten key individuals whose ideas will help shape the policy debate on the future of nuclear weapons.

Expertise

Nuclear arms control l Non-proliferation and disarmament l Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty

is the Director of the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists. He is a frequent advisor to the news media on the status of nuclear forces and policy, and co-author of the Nuclear Notebook column in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists and the World Nuclear Forces overview in the SIPRI Yearbook, both of which are some the most widely used reference material on the status of the world’s nuclear arsenals. Prior to his current position, Kristensen was a consultant to the Nuclear Program at the Natural Resources Defense Council in Washington, D.C., a Senior Researcher at the Nautilus Institute in Berkeley, CA., and Special Advisor to the Danish Minister of Defence, among others.

Expertise

Status of worldwide nuclear arsenals l U.S. nuclear policy l De-alerting nuclear weapons

Dr Barbara Kunz is a Senior Researcher and Director of the SIPRI European Security Programme. Prior to joining SIPRI in October 2023, she inter alia worked for the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy (IFSH) in Hamburg and the Institut français des relations internationales (Ifri) in Paris. In 2023, Barbara Kunz spent five months in Washington, D.C. as a Helmut Schmidt Fellow with the German Marshall Fund. In 2021-22, she was seconded to the German Federal Foreign Office’s policy planning unit as an external expert.

Her research focuses on European security, both within the framework of relevant organizations such as NATO, the EU and the OSCE, and in the wider Euro-Atlantic context. She is particularly interested in European and transatlantic debates about the future European security architecture. The US/NATO-Russia strategic context and its implications for Europe are also part of her research interests, including aspects of strategic stability and arms control.

Expertise

European security l Transatlantic security relations l Arms control

is an associate professor at Saint-Petersburg State University where she teaches courses on WMD non-proliferation, arms control and military innovations for the students of the Strategic and Arms Control Studies Master Degree program. In 2007, she participated in the Summer School on International Security held by Moscow PIR Center and contributed to several research projects. In February-April 2016, Anastasia was a Visiting Scholar at the Center for Non-Proliferation Studies (CNS) in Monterey. She has published on the history of disarmament diplomacy, international arms control regimes, nuclear nonproliferation and arms control.

Expertise

Disarmament l Arms control l Non-proliferation of WMD

Oliver Meier is the Policy and Research Director at the European Leadership Network (ELN). Previously, he was a Senior Researcher at the Berlin office of the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg (IFSH) and Deputy Head of the International Security Division at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP). He also served on the staff of Uta Zapf, then a member of the Bundestag's Foreign Relations Committee and Chairperson of the Subcommittee on Disarmament, Arms Control and Non-proliferation. Furthermore, he was Senior Arms Control and Disarmament Researcher with VERTIC London, Senior Analyst with BITS Berlin and a fellow at the Center for Arms Control and International Security at Stanford University. From 2008-2011, he worked on a project funded by the German Found for Peace Research about the impact of technology transfers on the legitimacy of non-proliferation regimes. For many years he was an Arms Control Association International Representative.

Expertise

Disarmament l Arms control and non-proliferation of WMD l Control of dual-use technologies

Victor Mizin is the Leading Researcher with the Center for International Security at the Primakov Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO) of the Russian Academy of Sciences. From 1978 to 2001, he was on diplomatic service at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the USSR and the Russian Federation. He was a participant in negotiations on arms reduction, non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and critical technologies, space policy, export control, and the situations in Iraq and the former Yugoslavia. He headed the related desks at the Russian Foreign Ministry, was the member of the Russian Mission to the UN in New York and an UNSCOM/UNMOVIC inspector. As a member of official delegations, he took part in bilateral and multilateral negotiations, in particular, on strategic offensive arms limitation and reduction, intermediate-range and shorter-range missiles (INF) and the Conference on Disarmament.

Expertise

Nuclear arms control l Strategic stability l Russia-US and Russia-NATO strategic dialogue

Götz Neuneck is Senior Research Fellow at the IFSH and formerly its deputy Director and Head of the interdisciplinary research area "Arms Control and Emerging Technologies". He is Professor at the Faculty of Mathematics, Informatics, and Natural Sciences, University of Hamburg. Neuneck worked at the Afheldt Working Group of the Max Planck Society on questions of strategy, military technologies, and arms control. He is member of the Board of the German Physical Society, chairing the working group on Physics and Disarmament. He is Pugwash representative of the Association of German Scientists as well as member of the Pugwash Council. A physicist by training he earned his Dr. rer. nat. at the University of Hamburg, Faculty of Mathematics. His research area includes nuclear arms control and disarmament, ballistic missile defence (BMD), missile proliferation, cyber security, non-proliferation of military technology, and outer space technologies.

Expertise

Nuclear arms control and disarmament l Missile proliferation l Non-proliferation of military technology

is the Director of the Eurasia Nonproliferation Program at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies in Monterey, California. Prior to that she was a Senior Research Associate with the Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation (VCDNP), focusing on arms control and security issues involving Russia, the Middle East, their intersection, and implications for US and European policy. She also served as Senior Political Officer with The Shaikh Group, an NGO focused on conflict mediation and informal diplomacy in the Middle East. She completed her doctorate at Oxford University in 2018 on the topic of US-Russian cooperation in the Middle East. Dr. Notte was a visiting researcher in 2015–16 with the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Carnegie Moscow Center in Moscow, Russia. Other visiting research positions have included the IISS Middle East office in Manama, Bahrain and the Konrad-Adenauer-Foundation’s Syria/Iraq office in Beirut, Lebanon. Her contributions have appeared in the Nonproliferation Review, Foreign Policy, The Washington Post, War on the Rocks, The National Interest, and Carnegie, among others. Dr. Notte obtained a BA in Social and Political Sciences from Cambridge University in 2010, and an MPhil in International Relations from Oxford Universityin 2014. She speaks Russian and Arabic. She is a German national based in Vienna/Berlin.

Expertise

Russian foreign policy in the Middle East l Arms control and security issues in the Middle East l Chemical weapons l US-Russian strategic stability l Russian military innovation

Olga Oliker is Program Director for Europe and Central Asia at International Crisis Group. Prior to joining the Crisis Group, Oliker directed the Russia and Eurasia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and held various research and management roles at the RAND Corporation, including as Director of the Center for Russia and Eurasia. Oliker holds a Ph.D. in political science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Expertise

Foreign and security policy of Russia and its neighbors l US foreign policy l Nuclear weapon strategy l Arms control l Security sector reform

Steven Pifer is a non-resident senior fellow with the Brookings Institution and an affiliate with the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University. Pifer is a retired foreign service officer with over 25 years of experience with the State Department, where he worked on U.S. relations with the former Soviet Union and Europe, as well as arms control and security issues. He served as deputy assistant secretary of state in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs with responsibilities for Russia and Ukraine (2001-2004), U.S. ambassador to Ukraine (1998-2000), and special assistant to the President and senior director for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia on the National Security Council (1996-1997).

Expertise

Arms control l Ukraine and Russia issues

Lynn Rusten is an independent consultant. From 2017-2024 she was Vice President for the Global Nuclear Policy Program at the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI). Before joining NTI, Rusten held government positions including senior director for arms control and nonproliferation on the White House National Security Council staff; and in the Department of State served as chief of staff for the Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation and as a senior advisor in the Bureau of Arms Control, Verification and Compliance where she led the interagency backstopping process supporting the negotiation and ratification of the New START Treaty. She has also served as a professional staff member on the Senate Armed Services Committee and as Director of the Committee on International Security and Arms Control of the National Academy of Sciences.

Expertise

Nuclear arms control l Nuclear non-proliferation l U.S.-Russian strategic relations l Euro-Atlantic security l National security policy

Greg Thielmann is a member of the Board of Directors of the Arms Control Association (ACA). He has extensive experience in both the U.S. Executive and Legislative Branches of Government, specializing in political-military and intelligence issues. For over 25 years he served as a member of the Foreign Service at the U.S. State Department and in U.S. embassies (Bonn, Moscow, and Brasilia), working in arms control and security issues, last serving as Director of the Strategic, Proliferation, and Military Affairs Office in the Department of State’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research. He subsequently worked four years as a senior staff member of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

Expertise

Threat assessments l Nuclear and missile proliferation l U.S.-Russian strategic arms control

Andrei Zagorski is Head of the Department of Disarmament and Conflict Resolution, Center for International Security at the Primakov Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO) of the Russian Academy of Sciences and a Professor at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO University), where he served as Vice-Rector (1992-1999). In 1999-2001, he was Senior Vice President, Director of the International Security Program and Project Director of the EastWest Institute (Prague office). In 2002, he taught as Faculty Member at GCSP. Zagorski served as an expert of Soviet delegations at several CSCE meetings.

Expertise

European security l Arms control l Post-Soviet studies l Arctic studies l Conflict resolution and negotiations theory and practice

Wolfgang Zellner is Senior Research Fellow at the IFSH. From 1994 to 2019, he worked in different capacities within the IFSH, since 2005 as Deputy Director of the IFSH and Head of the IFSH’s Centre for OSCE Research (CORE). In 2012, he led the multi-stakeholder project IDEAS on the establishment of a European and Eurasian security community. He is a former Scientific Adviser to Katrin Fuchs, Member of the German Bundestag (Member of Defence Committee, Foreign Relations Committee, Sub-Committee on Disarmament and Arms Control), where he has been dealing with issues of security and military policy, European arms control, and the CFE negotiations. He received his Ph.D. from the Free University of Berlin. Zellner is a member of the editorial board of Security and Human Rights. He has extensive research experience in the field of European security issues, the OSCE, conventional arms control in Europe, ethno-political conflicts, and transnational threats and risks.

Expertise

European security issues l OSCE l Conventional arms control in Europe