SCHOOL of INTERNATIONAL SERVICE
American University · Washington, D.C.
PHD STUDENT Neerada Jacob
Neerada Jacob
E-mail: neerada.jacob [at] american.edu
Research and Background
Neerada has a master's degree in Security and Intelligence Studies from the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, University of Pittsburgh. She also completed an MA in International Politics from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi and a BA in Economics Honors from St. Stephen's College, University of Delhi.
Neerada has presented papers and served as a discussant at the annual meetings of the American Political Science Association, International Studies Association, and the Midwest Political Science Association. She has also presented papers at annual meetings and been a member of the governing council of the ISA-Northeast. She has delivered a guest lecture on nuclear proliferation and served as a contributing editor to the Journal of Public and International Affairs.
Neerada works on topics in International Security and Foreign Policy. Driven by questions of war and peace, she is interested in untangling the irony of human technological advancement that is conjoined with the power to mete out large-scale destruction. Her specific focus is on the issue of nuclear weapons and proliferation. She also has an interest in theoretical debates in International Relations.
In her dissertation, Neerada seeks to understand the motivations and circumstances under which states roll back their nuclear weapons programs. A counter-intuitive phenomenon, there are few theoretical explanations for nuclear rollback. In applying the broad findings of the literature on economic sanctions, Neerada seeks to understand whether sanctions contribute to nuclear rollback. It is generally held that sanctions do not "work" particularly when applied to security issues but evidence from the cases of Libya, Iraq, South Korea, and Taiwan suggest otherwise. Neerada's work thus lies at the intersection of politics and economics as well as between international security and international political economy. She uses the literature on foreign policy to explicate decision-making by states in response to the imposition of sanctions.