Lecture
A critical look at NATO, Europe, and nuclear strategy
- Date
- Wednesday 18 March 2026
- Time
- Address
-
Lipsius
Cleveringaplaats 1
2311 BD Leiden - Room
- 2.27
Abstract
NATO has always said that “as long as nuclear weapons exist, it will remain a nuclear alliance.” But what does that mean in both theory and practice? How has nuclear policy been made in NATO both during the Cold War and after? How did the Warsaw Pact and now Russia view NATO’s nuclear plans? This lecture will track the history of NATO’s nuclear policy and planning using original archival sources little before used. It centres the perceptions of Soviet and other Warsaw Pact governments during the Cold War and Russia’s government today. It will highlight important discrepancies between NATO and US planning and explore critical issues such as political control over nuclear operations.
The lecture and discussion will also relate this history to broader questions about security studies on civil-military relations, deterrence, and defence planning. It aims for attendees to consider how the practice of strategy making and policy planning interacts with different theories and how the socialisation and education of political-military elites shapes practical outcomes.
About the speaker
Dr. Davis Ellison is a strategic analyst at HCSS specialising in security and defence affairs and chair of the HCSS Initiative on the Future of Transatlantic Relations. His primary focus areas include civil-military relations, arms control, and strategy. He joins HCSS from NATO Allied Command Transformation, where he served for over three years as a strategist. Davis earned his PhD at the King’s College London Department of War Studies, where he wrote his dissertation on civil-military relations in NATO. He has also previously studied in Berlin, Bath, and in the United States
Registration
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