The ICCS is looking for outstanding candidates to apply for a PhD project investigating ‘Conceptions of Responsibility Among the Nuclear Weapon Possessors’, focusing on the United States, the United Kingdom, and North Korea.
The successful applicant will work with supervisors Prof Nicholas Wheeler (Director, ICCS) and Paul Ingram (Director, British American Security Information Council). The project will involve fieldwork in the UK and the US, plus scheduled trips to work with BASIC at their office in London.
The project is funded through the Midlands Graduate School, an accredited Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP). One of 14 such partnerships in the UK, the Midlands Graduate School is a collaboration between the University of Warwick, Aston University, University of Birmingham, University of Leicester, Loughborough University and the University of Nottingham. The studentship will commence in October 2018.
The project will investigate what counts as responsible state conduct in relation to the possession of nuclear weapons. The rationale for this focus is the growing disjuncture in the contemporary global nuclear order between the nuclear possessor states on the one hand, and the vast majority of non-nuclear states on the other. The differences between these two groups of states has widened still further with the agreement of 122 states on 7 July 2017 to open for signature a Treaty banning the possession of nuclear weapons. None of the possessor states, or their allies, have signed or legitimized the ban process. Possessor states differ, however. Each state has its own history, context, and relationship to its nuclear arsenal. The project will focus on the conceptions of responsibility held by three very different nuclear weapon possessors: the United States, the United Kingdom, and North Korea.
Informal enquiries about the research prior to application can be directed to Professor Nicholas Wheeler, n.j.wheeler@bham.ac.uk. The deadline for applications is Friday 16th February 2018.