We are thrilled to welcome Anna Šillerová, Klára Kosová, Tobias Risse and Alžběta Šillerová as new members of our PRCP team! Their research will enable us to broaden our focus into areas such as public discourse and national identity, computational science, individuals’ positions toward foreign and security policy, arms control as well as emerging and disruptive technologies.
Can public opinion shape elite attitudes toward the use of nuclear weapons? Our new study in EJIS finds that public support increases policymakers’ willingness to endorse nuclear first use. While finding that effects are weaker in retaliation scenarios, the study concludes that sympathetic public opinion strenthens the credibility of third-party nuclear threats.
How do Russians really feel about using nuclear weapons after the invasion of Ukraine? Despite constant threats from the Kremlin and rising global tensions, support for a nuclear strike against NATO has barely shifted. This study from Michal Smetana and Michal Onderčo uncovers why public opinion has stayed so stable.
In this publication, Michal Smetana, Marek Vranka and Ondřej Rosendorf provide empirical evidence for the hypothesis that there are substantial elite-public gaps in support for the military use of nuclear and chemical weapons. These findings strongly contribute to the ongoing academic debate on the significance of nuclear and chemical weapon ‘taboos’ in global politics.
