Sarah Laderman

Researched nuclear proliferation topics of interest at the nexus of technology and policy

Researched Chinese military and nuclear strategy for the Center for Global Security Research. Presented on the topic at a lab-wide seminar and drafted a monograph with Dr. Michael Nacht.

Supported the office of Nuclear Matters under the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear, Chemical, and Biological Defense.

Thesis: “State Participation in Nonproliferation Regime Networks” Utilized network science to assess the efficacy of the Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and Nuclear Weapons Free Zones. Created a new model for analyzing the treaties and individual states as bipartite social networks and how their various network measures correlate with measured levels of proliferation at both the state and global level.

Capstone Project: “Asymmetric Nuclear Weapon Capabilities and Conflict Escalation” Investigated whether asymmetric possession of high-precision, low-yield nuclear weapons lowers the nuclear-use threshold during a conflict between two large nuclear powers. Utilized game theory and extensive games with variable payoff schema to develop analytical framework.

Thesis: "Minimal Nuclear Deterrence" Analyzed how states with small nuclear arsenals could deter nuclear attacks from states with large nuclear arsenals. Assessed political ramifications of small arsenals and the nuclear weapons effects over generic targets in order to determine the validity and efficacy of a decreasing U.S. stockpile.