The existing research on nuclear disarmament extensively covers the TPNW and its transformative position in changing norms, narratives, and discourses, as well as the role of the ICAN and grassroots activism. However, less is known about the roles of experts, think tanks, and scholars. In addition, there is little known about the relationship between these actors and states with respect to the production of such norms and regarding nuclear policy knowledge in general. Think tanks in particular play an important role in production of policy-relevant knowledge. They serve as intermediaries between research and policy. Therefore, I explore the roles of think tanks in the nuclear weapons knowledge production realm and the main research question is: How does the relationship between states and such experts in think tanks influence the production of nuclear policy knowledge? While conducting empirical research and using a qualitative method, I analyse case studies of think tanks based in European democratic states. European region represents an interesting case for research as it is comprised of the states with different knowledge regimes and nuclear weapons policies. The findings of this empirical research contribute to scholarship on nuclear weapons, European studies, the politics of knowledge, and critical security studies.

Supervisor: Prof Dr. Laurent Goetschel
Co-Supervisor: Dr. Daniel Rietiker (University of Lausanne)
External Supervisor: Prof. Benoît Pelopidas

Marzhan Nurzhan earned a Master of Arts in European Studies and a Master of Science in Social Sciences from joint-degree program from Europa-Universität Flensburg and University of Southern Denmark. She also holds postgraduate certificate in Peace Research from the University of Oslo. She is a PhD candidate at the University of Basel. Her research interests include nuclear diplomacy, peace research and politics of knowledge.

2024 Alva Myrdal: a pioneer in nuclear disarmament, International Affairs, Volume 100, Issue 1, January 2024, Pages 429–430, https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiad318 

2023 Dealing with a Nuclear Past: Revisiting the Cases of Algeria and Kazakhstan through a Decolonial Lens. The International Spectator. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03932729.2023.2234817 (co-authored article, open access)