Research Interests

Dr. Weiner’s research focuses on security and the interface between institutional design, bureaucratic politics, and U.S. defense and foreign policy. Her current project looks at joint U.S.-Russian efforts to control the proliferation of weapons experts and materials from the former Soviet nuclear and biological weapons complexes.  Other projects focus on Army modernization and weapons procurement for Iraq, defense organization and civil-military relations, and the role of scientific expertise in US foreign policy.

Selected Publications

• "Reconsidering Cooperative Threat Reduction: Russian Nuclear Weapons Scientists and Non-Proliferation," Contemporary Security Policy, Vol. 29, No. 3 (December 2008), pp. 477-501.
• "Preventing Nuclear Entrepreneurship in Russia's Nuclear Cities," International Security Vol. 27, No. 2, Fall 2002. Reprinted in: New Global Dangers: Changing Dimensions of International Security (Cambridge, MIT Press, 2004).

Residencies

• Developed and led the first SIS study abroad program in India during summer 2008.

Honors, Awards, and Fellowships

• Visiting Scholar Fellowship, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 2005-2006
• Lifton Fellowship for Teaching Nuclear Weapons issues, 2004-2005
• "Scholar of Vision" award, The Carnegie Corporation of New York, 2001-2003

Professional Presentations

• "The Proliferation of Nuclear Knowledge from Russia: Changes since the Collapse," American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, 2006 Annual Convention, Nov. 17, 2006, Washington, DC.
• "Controlling the Proliferation of Nuclear Knowledge from Russia: Changes in Threat, Changes in Response," Managing the Atom, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, April 27, 2006.
• "Controlling the Proliferation of Nuclear Knowledge from the Former Soviet Union," Security Studies Program, Massachusetts Institute of Technology," April 26, 2006.
• "Cooperative Threat Reduction: Status, Problems, Prospects," guest lecture, Protection Against Weapons of Mass Destruction, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University, April 17, 2006.
• "Securing Russia's Nuclear and Bioweapon Facilities," War on Terror: Results and Costs from Europe to Central Asia, the 19^th Winter Course of the International School on Disarmament and Research on Conflicts, January 8-15, 2006, Andalo, Italy.
• "The Threat of Nuclear Proliferation from the FSU," Shield New York Against Nuclear and bio-Terrorism," September 29-30, 2005, John Jay College, City University of New York.

Work In Progress

• Defending Congress: The Politics of Defense Organization – a study of the influence of the organization of the defense department on civil-military relations
• Explaining the MRAP Delay – an analysis of contending arguments about delays in providing Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles to troops in Iraq
• Cooperative Threat Reduction:  Progress and Politics  -- an overview of accomplishments and lessons learned from almost two decades of cooperative threat reduction with the former Soviet Union