CBC Interviews Jeffrey Knopf on Chemical Weapons and Ukraine
Professor Jeffrey Knopf was interviewed by CBC News on chemical weapons and Ukraine.
Jeff Knopf
Professor; Program Chair, Nonproliferation and Terrorism Studies
- Office
- McGowan Building MG200D
- Tel
- (831) 647-7174
- jknopf@middlebury.edu
When Jeff Knopf was a college student in the late 1970s and early 1980s, he participated in protest movements against the nuclear arms race. This piqued a lifelong interest in understanding the risks associated with nuclear weapons, the options for states to reduce those risks, and what ordinary citizens can do to contribute to the lessening of nuclear dangers. After graduation, Knopf worked for two years at NGOs based in Washington, D.C., that were concerned with aspects of U.S. defense policy. He then decided to get a Ph.D. in order to study these issues in greater depth, and this launched him on an academic career. Since completing the Ph.D., Knopf has taught at the University of Southern California, the Naval Postgraduate School, the University of California-Santa Cruz, and the Middlebury Institute of International Studies.
This is actually Knopf’s second stint at the Institute. From 1998-2000, Knopf worked at the Institute’s James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies as a researcher and also the editor of The Nonproliferation Review. After 9/11, Knopf became interested in the debate about whether terrorism can be deterred. An article resulting from this research titled “The Fourth Wave in Deterrence Research” received the Bernard Brodie Prize for the best article published in 2010 in the journal Contemporary Security Policy. His most recent book is a volume he edited on International Cooperation on WMD Nonproliferation, published by University of Georgia Press.
Courses Taught
MIIS 8515
US Natl Security Policy Making
Course Description
US National Security Policy Making
This course introduces students to the formulation of U.S. national security policy. It summarizes the roles played by different governmental actors, including the President, Congress, and relevant bureaucratic departments and agencies, and describes the interagency process. It then covers the influence of domestic politics on national security policy, including the impact of interest groups, the media, and public opinion.
(Open to Juniors and Seniors only) The dates of this course are JANUARY 31 through MAY 20. Registering for this course signals your interest in taking the course.
Terms Taught
Spring 2021, MIIS courses in College Term, Spring 2022, MIIS courses in College Term
NPTG 8501
Upcoming
Intl Security Rsrch & Analysis
Course Description
International Security Research and Analysis
An introductory survey of research methods, with special attention to how research can be utilized to inform policies related to international security. The course gives particular emphasis to the processes of identifying research topics and designing research projects. It will also address the basic elements of doing policy analysis. Students who complete the course will be able to read with comprehension and critically assess research produced across a wide range of qualitative and quantitative research methods. The course will also address how to write up and present research proposals and finished research products, and will consider the ethics of doing research. The course will be conducted primarily in lecture format, but some class time will also be devoted to exercises that involve active student participation.
Terms Taught
Spring 2021 - MIIS, Fall 2021 - MIIS, Spring 2022 - MIIS, Fall 2022 - MIIS
NPTG 8505
US Natl Security Policymaking
Course Description
This course introduces students to the formulation of U.S. national security policy. It summarizes the roles played by different governmental actors, including the President, Congress, and relevant bureaucratic departments and agencies, and describes the interagency process. It then covers the influence of domestic politics on national security policy, including the impact of interest groups, the media, and public opinion.
Terms Taught
Spring 2021 - MIIS, Spring 2022 - MIIS
NPTG 8639
Upcoming
Sem:Deter&InfluencTerrorsm&WMD
Course Description
Seminar: Deterrence and Influence Terrorism and WMD Proliferation
This seminar examines deterrence and other strategies for responding to security threats, with a focus on how those strategies might be adapted to deal with the dangers posed by terrorism and WMD proliferation. The course will survey existing research on deterrence and various alternative policy tools such as coercive diplomacy, assurance, positive incentives, and soft power. It will introduce some of the latest thinking about whether these tools are useful for influencing actors away from support for terrorism or WMD acquisition or use.
Terms Taught
Fall 2021 - MIIS, Fall 2022 - MIIS
Areas of Interest
Much of Knopf’s work is motivated by concern about the dangers posed by nuclear weapons. This has led him to do research on arms control, nonproliferation, and other forms of international cooperation that seek to reduce the threats from weapons of mass destruction (WMD). He has also done work on strategies such as deterrence and security assurances that states can use to respond to security threats, including how these strategies might be adapted to deal with terrorism. Finally, he has long been interested in the potential for public opinion, NGOs, and social movements to influence government policies in these areas. In his teaching, he helps students explore how academic research can be applied to real-world policy problems. One of the classes he teaches regularly covers how the United States makes national security policy, with the goal of giving students a greater understand of how the decision-making process in the U.S. government really works.
Programs
Research Centers
Academic Degrees
- PhD in Political Science, Stanford University, 1991
- MA in Political Science, Stanford University, 1986
- B.A. in Social Studies, Harvard College, 1983
Professor Knopf has been teaching at the Institute since 2012.
Publications
Author
- Co-author, with Wyn Bowen and Mattew Moran, “The Obama Administration and Syrian Chemical Weapons: Deterrence, Compellence, and the Limits of the ‘Resolve Plus Bombs’ Formula,” Security Studies 29, no. 5 (2020): 795-831.
- “Regional Variations on Deterrence and Stability,” in The End of Strategic Stability? Nuclear Weapons and The Challenge of Regional Rivalries, ed. Lawrence Rubin and Adam N. Stulberg (Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 2018).
- “After Diffusion: Challenges to Enforcing Nonproliferation and Disarmament Norms,” Contemporary Security Policy, special issue on “Nuclear Norms in Global Governance,” 39, no. 3 (2018): 367-398.
- “Nuclear Disarmament and Nonproliferation: Examining the Linkage Argument,” International Security 37, no. 3 (Winter 2012/13): 92-132. .
- “NGOs, Social Movements, and Arms Control,” in Arms Control: History, Theory, and Policy, ed. Robert E. Williams, Jr. and Paul R. Viotti (ABC-CLIO/Praeger, 2012).
- “The Concept of Nuclear Learning,” Nonproliferation Review 19, no. 1 (March 2012): 79-93.
Co-editor / Editor
- Co-editor, with Anne I. Harrington, Behavioral Economics and Nuclear Weapons (Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press, 2019).
- Editor, International Cooperation on WMD Nonproliferation (Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press, 2016).
- Editor, Security Assurances and Nuclear Nonproliferation (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2012).
For the full list of his publications, please view Professor Knopf’s CV.
News Feed
Russia Isn’t Likely to Use Chemical Weapons in Ukraine–Unless Putin Grows Desperate
In an article for The Conversation, Professor and Program Chair of Nonproliferation and Terrorism Studies Jeffrey William Knopf writes that Russia’s likelihood of using chemical weapons in Ukraine is low but not zero.
Six Middlebury Institute Women Receive Fellowships from International Atomic Energy Agency
| by Stephen Diehl
The IAEA’s Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellowship aims to increase the number of women in the nuclear field.