ACONA Research Papers

As part of their ACONA experience, fellows collaborate on an international research project. Please find their publications below.

ACONA Policy Briefs 2026

The Impact of AUKUS and Regional Stability of Asia

Thorvardur Thorsson, Sidra Rehman, Chenghao Sun, James To

Strategic stability and arms control in a tripolar nuclear world

Jørn Wichne Pedersen, Maria del Carmen Corte, Fereshteh Ehsani, Kirill Shamiev

Leveraging Nuclear Disarmament Verification for Diplomatic Breakthrough in Multilateral Disarmament

Kudakwashe Mapako, Ali Alkis, Natalia Zhurina

Negotiation Pathways and Proposed Language for Governing the AI–NC3 Nexus

Alice Saltini, Alina Hrytsenko, Fei Su

ACONA Policy Briefs 2025

The Impact of Long-Range Missile Deployments on Regional Security Dynamics and Strategic Stability

Artem Lomakin, and Austin Wright

Reviving Strategic Stability: How the P5’s Interests Shape Options for Arms Control Engagement

Qiyang Niu, James Gulliksen, Dariya Pavlova, and Aleksandra Zubenko

The Iran-Israel Standoff: Deterrence Breakdown and Nuclear Escalation

Tim Bettis, Nan Hao, Deniz Iskendarova, and Océane Van Geluwe

Enhancing and Expanding Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zones (NWFZs)

Andrej Stefanovic, Jorge Lopez, Peter Sylva, and Yasmin Hamdy

ACONA Policy Briefs 2024

AI in nuclear command and control: Prospects for an international agreement to keep a human in the loop

Haleema Saadia, Tynchtykbek Israiilov, Ekaterina Mikhalevich, Jonas Sandbrink

One Year After Jake Sullivan's ACA Speech: The White House Arms Control Initiative through Harvard's Negotiation Lens

Vanda Czifra, Jeremy Faust, Kseniia Pirnavskaia, Loïc Simonet

Success Beyond Final Documents: Strategic Recommendations for the 2026 NPT Review Conference

Ian Fleming Zhou, Valeriia Hesse, Anna-Elisabeth Schmitz, Karina Touzinsky

Harnessing Middle Powers to Restart Multilateral Negotiations and Decrease Nuclear Tensions on the Korean Peninsula

Maureen Ahmed, Rut Einarsdóttir, Henry Kim, Milana Ozerina

ACONA Policy Briefs 2023

Perceptions of China, Russia, and the United States of the Opportunities and Limitations of Nuclear Talks

Katia Derbilova, Thomas MacDonald, Tetiana Melnyk, Helen Inga von Ernst

AI and Atoms: How AI is Revolutionizing Nuclear Material Production

Jingjie He, Nikita Degtyarev

Building Information Resilience to Reinforce Arms Control

Kate Zander, Mayra Ameneiros, Ance Baura, Tomáš Nagy

Focus on the Problem, not the Treaty: Using Principled Negotiation to Establish Common Ground Between Critics & Proponents of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons

Esson Anzaku, Ekaterina Lapanovich, Laura Lepsy, Alain Ponce Blancas

ACONA Policy Memos 2022

DPRK Policy in the Context of the Crisis in Ukraine

Veronika Bedenko, Roman Kalinin, Jessica J. Lee, Yue Yuan

Delivering Stability through Safeguards - Two Possible Paths for the IAEA's Relationship with Iran

Laura Brisbane, Elena Gai, Matthew Schleupner, Ali Rached

Options for Mutual Gains in Arms Control

Snaefridur Grimsdottir, Jordan Hibbs, Sayaka Shingu, Anna Wagner

NPNW & NPT - Japan as a Bridge-Builder

Dominik P. Jankowski, Tianjiao Jiang, Marion Messmer, Gleb Toropchin

ACONA Policy Reports 2021

A Shared Road to Zero? Towards a Common Language of Nuclear Diplomacy

Álfrún Perla Baldursdóttir, Jessica Bufford, María Garzón Maceda, Maria Roskoshnaya

Does One Size Fit All? How a P5 Interaction Could Reduce Nuclear Risks

Iskander Akylbayev, Logan Brandt, Brynja Huld Óskarsdóttir, Astan Tugov

Reassessing Europe's Nuclear Order: Perspectives for a Nuclear Free Zone

Amina Afzal, Alexander Graef, Marianne Fisher, Oleg Krivolapov

External Publications

Some of our fellows' research projects have been published in external outlets.