Andrew J. Pierre

Dr. Andrew J. Pierre is writing a book on the past experiences of fourteen states that possessed, or could acquire without excessive difficulty, the scientific and technological capacity for becoming a military power with nuclear weapons but ultimately decided to say “No”. The study will ascertain the political, economic and strategic reasons why these states decided to forgo nuclear arms. Critical questions will include their scientific and technological capability; the role of domestic political and economic considerations; the decision-making process; foreign policy, security, and regional issues including the role of alliances; and the roles of the NPT, the non-proliferation regime and American policy. The reversibility of their decisions will be considered. The pattern of calculations and trade-offs which led to the decision to forego nuclear weapons could inform future non-proliferation policy.

Prior to his recent affiliation with Georgetown University, Dr. Pierre was a Senior Associate of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, dealing with issues of international security as well as Europe. He also served as Director-General of the Atlantic Institute for International Affairs in Paris, Senior Fellow and acting Director of Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, Senior Associate of the Hudson Institute and Research Associate at the Brookings Institution. In 1998-1999, he was a Jennings Randolph Fellow at the U.S. Institute of Peace. As a former foreign service officer, he served at the American Embassy in London and at the U.S. State Department. He has also taught at Columbia University and Johns Hopkins University, and spent half a year in Hanoi, Vietnam as a senior adviser to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A graduate of Amherst College and the Institut d’Etudes Politiques in Paris, he holds a Ph.D. in political science from Columbia University. Dr. Pierre has testified before the U.S. Congress and been interviewed on such programs as PBS Newshour, Nightline, CNN and France-1.