Bernstein, Paul I.

Distinguished Fellow, CSWMD

Subject Matter Expertise:  Nuclear weapons and policy; Deterrence theory and practice; Countering WMD; Missile Defense; NATO; Professional Military Education (Curriculum Development)

Paul I. Bernstein is a Distinguished Fellow at the Center for the Study of Weapons of Mass Destruction, National Defense University in Washington, DC, and a member of the university’s Research Faculty. He leads the Center’s practice in strategic security analysis, and is engaged in a range of policy support, research, and professional military education activities related to WMD, nuclear policy, deterrence, threat reduction, and regional security. He works in collaboration with the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Joint Staff, Services, combatant commands and defense agencies. He is currently Senior Advisor to the Office of the Secretary of Defense (Nuclear Policy) in support of the Nuclear Posture Review. Mr. Bernstein is a contributing author of the Department of Defense Strategy for Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction and has been an adviser to the Defense Science Board and the DoD Threat Reduction Advisory Committee. He is an instructor in the CAPSTONE program, guest lectures at other military education venues, and has developed multiple curricula for nuclear and WMD instruction. He is author or co-author most recently of “Multi-Domain Deterrence: Some Framing Considerations,” “Toward Nuclear and WMD Fluency in Professional Military Education,” “China’s Hypersonic Weapons,” “Toward an Integrated Strategic Deterrent,” and “Weapons of Mass Destruction, Strategic Deterrence, and Great Power Competition.”


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