The National Strategic Research Institute at the University of Nebraska was awarded a contract from U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM) in 2015 to investigate horizontal and vertical nuclear proliferation. This research is being led by Rupal Mehta and Tyler White of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Department of Political Science. The two academics also hosted a workshop in Washington DC to examine extended deterrence and assurance, with specific attention to East Asia and NATO. The workshop involved policymakers, academics and represenatives from the U.S. and U.K. governments.
Bio
Mehta’s research interests lie in international security and conflict, with a particular interest in nuclear security, latency, extended deterrence nonproliferation, force structure and deterrence theory. She has written on the conditions under which states stop their pursuit of nuclear weapons programs. She is a member of the University of Nebraska’s National Strategic Research Institute.
Mehta holds a Ph.D. in political science from the University of California, San Diego. She was a postdoctoral fellow at the Belfer Center in the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. She was a researcher at the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University and at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington DC.
Bio
Dr. Tyler White is an Associate Professor of Practice and the Director of the National Security Program at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln. Dr. White is the faculty lead for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) Center for Academic Excellence (IC CAE) at UNL. After graduating with his PhD in political science from UNL in 2010, he has focused his research interests on national security topics including intelligence studies, US nuclear policy, US foreign policy and deterrence.