2023 Undergraduate Fellow Spotlight: Luke Caggiano
Luke Caggiano recently graduated from the University of Georgia (UGA) School of Public and International Affairs where he completed his Bachelor of Arts in International Affairs along with a minor in Spanish. While studying at UGA, Luke was a fellow in the Richard B. Russell Security Leadership Program, through which he developed a keen interest in global security and the nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction. He previously worked as a nuclear policy research intern with the Arms Control Association, where he was responsible for conducting open-source research and writing on nuclear weapons proliferation and international security with a particular focus on the Indo-Pacific. Luke’s research interests include international conflict, near peer competition between the United States and China, and transatlantic security cooperation.
Research Presentation: Rocking the Boat: The Potentially Destabilizing Role of Sea-based Nuclear Weapons in South Asia.
Though traditionally viewed as a stabilizing factor in nuclear deterrence, the development and deployment of sea-based nuclear weapons in South Asia may prove disastrous for crisis stability in the region. Focusing on India’s pursuit of nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines and Pakistan’s deployment of nuclear armed submarine-launched cruise missiles, this project analyzes how both countries’ nuclear posturing and command, and control may be negatively affected by the introduction of sea-based nuclear weapons. Having established the dangers these weapons present to the region; this project outlines some potential steps forward that may mitigate crisis escalation to the nuclear level.