Here you can find Summer Interns & Fellows’ research projects, publications, media appearances and articles

2018

Explore the Summer 2018 Interns’ research projects here

Kenshin Cho
Protectionist export controls could be bad for nonproliferation
Publisher:  Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

Ethan Fecht and Jack Nassetta

Interns Ethan Fecht and Jack Nassetta examine the use of social media in shaping narratives surrounding nonproliferation efforts.

The Washington Post published an Op-Ed version of Jack and Ethan’s study

Russia is gearing up to misinform the U.S. public about Syria. Here’s our cheat sheet to identify Twitter trolls
Publisher:  The Washington Post

Jack Nassetta’s appearance on Sky News World View

The distinguished Brown Daily Herald of Brown University also wrote a piece about Jack and Ethan’s work.
Students examine Russian disinformation campaign

Octave Lepinard

Watch Octave appearance on BBC News and read his article about his experience

2017

The Summer Interns and UWC Davis fellows have produced several important publications this year. To see a full list, please click here.

2016

Intern Hanna Rifkin was awarded an honorable mention in the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1540 Essay Contest. This prestigious award is given by the Stimson Center and is awarded for the essay that best gives new ideas for countering nuclear proliferation. More information can be found here: https://www.brynmawr.edu/news/hannah-rifkin-17-awarded-honorable-mention-un-essay-contest. Her essay can be found on this webpage: https://www.stimson.org/sites/default/files/file-attachments/1540-Contest-Essays.pdf. In addition to her award winning essay, a modified version, titled “Modest but meaningful steps to prevent proliferation in Turkmenistan” was published in the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists and can be viewed here: http://thebulletin.org/modest-meaningful-steps-prevent-proliferation-turkmenistan9972

Interim Report
IAEA Milestones Approach Progress for Nuclear Newcomers in the Middle East:
Evaluating the nuclear new build projects of the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Egypt
Joy Nasr (Intern) and Amélie-Sophie Vavrovsky (Davis United World College Fellow)
Under the supervision of Dr. Ferenc Dalnoki-Veress

2015

Amelia Armitage and Miles Latham

Interns Amelia Armitage and Miles Latham write, “In the wake of the announcement of a successfully concluded Iran Nuclear Agreement in July 2015, many took to social media outlets to express their opinions of the deal. In Foreign Policy, CNS expert Jeffrey Lewis expressed his view that the deal was a “damn good one.”  

This project sought to determine what other experts think of the deal – and, in particular, whether experts are expressing more positive views on Twitter than non-experts.  To answer this question, we drew roughly 12,000 tweets written on July 15–just one day after the deal was announced, each of which had been tagged with #IranDeal. We classified subsample of 5000 tweets into expert and non-expert categories, and performed 3 different types of sentiment analysis–which led us to a “polarity” score for each tweet (-1 = negative; 1 = positive; 0 = neutral).  Armed with this data, upon further analysis we were able to conclude that experts did express a more positive view of the deal on Twitter than those with less expertise.”

 

Timothy Fraser

Intern Timothy Fraser writes, “”This interactive story map in remembrance of the bombings’ 70th Anniversary is designed to help English language speakers explore the bombings’ different scales all at once.​ Grappling with the devastation spatially forces us to understand victims of nuclear attacks as ordinary human beings living in ordinary cities just like us.

In this way, cartography can help us integrate our understanding of nuclear issues with deeply intertwined social and political concerns. (All locations are approximated based on historical maps, photos, and documents and do not always correspond to exact locations.)”

2014

The New Ways of War by Matthew Oldham

Former intern Matthew Oldham writes about the increasing use of new technology, such as drones, cyberattacks, and 3D printing in covert warfare.

Looking for a Lead by Matthew Oldham

Former intern Matthew Oldham writes about whether rebel or “terrorist” groups could potentially get their hands on missiles similar to the MH17 case, the regulation of Small Arms and Light Weapons, and the United States’ next step in the so-called War on Terror.

2013

Why the United States Should Redesign its Nuclear Submarines by Nate Sans

Former intern Nate Sans submitted the work he undertook at CNS to Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, winning the prestigious Voices of Tomorrow contest in 2013. His article makes the compelling argument that the United States is unable to demand other countries operate their submarines off LEU when US submersibles continue to use HEU.