The Honorable Dr. Vipin Narang is the Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy. From 2022 to 2024, Dr. Narang served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy. He has previously held fellowships at both Harvard and Stanford Universities and is a former Associate Professor of Political Science at MIT and a member of MIT’s Security Studies Program. His research interests include nuclear proliferation and strategy, South Asian security, and general security studies.
The Honorable Dr. Vipin Narang is the Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy.
From 2022 to 2024, Dr. Narang served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy. He has been an Associate Professor of Political Science at MIT, a member of MIT’s Security Studies Program, a Fellow at Harvard University’s Olin Institute for Strategic Studies, a predoctoral Fellow at Harvard University’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, and a Junior Faculty Fellow at Stanford University’s Center for International Security and Cooperation.
His research interests include nuclear proliferation and strategy, South Asian security, and general security studies.
Dr. Narang’s work has been published in several journals including International Security, the Journal of Conflict Resolution, and International Organization. He is the author of two books: Nuclear Strategy in the Modern Era (2014) and Seeking the Bomb: Strategies of Nuclear Proliferation (2022). He co-edited, along with Scott Sagan, The Fragile Balance of Terror: Deterrence in the New Nuclear Age (2023).
He received his Ph.D. from the Department of Government, Harvard University in 2010, where he was awarded the Edward M. Chase Prize for the best dissertation in International Relations. He holds a B.S. and M.S. in Chemical Engineering with distinction from Stanford University and an M. Phil with Distinction in International Relations from Balliol College, Oxford University, where he studied on a Marshall Scholarship.
Articles

Nuclear Threats and the Role of Allies: A Conversation with Acting Assistant Secretary Vipin Narang
The Hon. Vipin Narang, Dr. Heather Williams
On August 1st, 2024 the Project on Nuclear Issues at the Center for Strategic and International Studies hosted a discussion with Acting Assistant Secretary of...

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...

The Fragile Balance of Terror: Deterrence in the New Nuclear Age
Dr. Scott D. Sagan, The Hon. Vipin Narang, Dr. Heather Williams, Dr. Caitlin Talmadge, Dr. Amy Zegart
"In The Fragile Balance of Terror, the foremost experts on nuclear policy and strategy offer insight into an era rife with more nuclear powers. Some...

Why North Korea Is Testing Missiles Again
"After 522 days without a ballistic missile test, North Korea is at it again. On May 4, two months after the failed Hanoi summit, Pyongyang...