Dr. Caitlin Talmadge is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a faculty member in the Security Studies Program at MIT. Her research and teaching focus on U.S. defense policy, military effectiveness, civil-military relations, nuclear strategy, nuclear deterrence and escalation, and Persian Gulf security issues.
Dr. Caitlin Talmadge is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a faculty member in the Security Studies Program at MIT.
She is also a Non-Resident Senior Fellow in Foreign Policy at the Brookings Institution and a Series Editor for the Cornell Studies in Security Affairs journal. From 2018 to 2023, Dr. Talmadge was an Associate Professor of Political Science and International Affairs in the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. She also previously worked as a professor at The George Washington University, as a researcher at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and as a consultant to the Office of Net Assessment at the U.S. Department of Defense.
She was also a Stanton Nuclear Security Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, and has been named a Next Generation National Security Leader by the Center for a New American Security.
Her research and teaching focus on U.S. defense policy, military effectiveness, civil-military relations, nuclear strategy, nuclear deterrence and escalation, and Persian Gulf security issues.
Dr. Talmadge is the author of The Dictator’s Army: Battlefield Effectiveness in Authoritarian Regimes and co-author of U.S. Defense Politics: the Origins of Security Policy. Her other writings have appeared in International Security, Security Studies, The Journal of Conflict Resolution, The Nonproliferation Review, The Washington Quarterly, The New York Times, and The Washington Post, among other outlets. Her recent speaking engagements have included the U.S. Naval War College, the U.S. Air War College, the U.S. Naval Academy, U.S. Strategic Command, the CNO’s Strategic Studies Group, Princeton, Duke, Harvard, MIT, the University of Chicago, the University of Texas at Austin, and the London School of Economics.
She holds an A.B. in Government from Harvard College, summa cum laude, and a Ph.D. in Political Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Articles
How would Trump and Biden handle US nuclear policy upon reelection?
"Few issues are as potentially consequential as U.S. nuclear policy. What are Donald Trump and Joe Biden likely to do with respect to deterrence and...
When Actions Speak Louder Than Words: Adversary Perceptions of Nuclear No-First-Use Pledges
Dr. Caitlin Talmadge, The Hon. Vipin Narang
"Should the United States publicly forswear nuclear first use, committing to employ nuclear weapons only in response to adversary nuclear attack? This question has recurred...
CSIS European Trilateral Track 2 Nuclear Dialogues: 2023 Consensus Statement
Dr. Heather Williams, The Hon. Walter B. Slocombe, Dr. Caitlin Talmadge
"The European Trilateral Track 2 Nuclear Dialogues, organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in partnership with the Royal United Services Institute...
America shouldn’t insist on a strategic defeat of Russia
"The Biden administration has done a generally solid job on Ukraine policy — first warning the world about Russia’s intentions, then helping Ukraine survive the...