Adam N. Stulberg
Sam Nunn School Chair and Professor
- Sam Nunn School of International Affairs
- Center for International Strategy, Technology, and Policy
Overview
Dr. Stulberg is the Sam Nunn School Chair and Professor in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs. He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on international security, Russia/Eurasian politics and security affairs, nuclear (non)proliferation, and energy and international security, as well as inter-disciplinary courses on science, technology, and international security policy. His current research focuses on contemporary great power competition, the geopolitics of oil and gas networks, energy security dilemmas in Eurasia, Russia and "gray zone" conflicts, compartive approaches to statecraft, internationalization of the nuclear fuel cycle, and implications of emerging technologies for strategic stability and international security.
Dr. Stulberg earned his Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), as well as holds an M.A. in International Affairs from Columbia University, an M.A. in Political Science from UCLA, and a B.A. in History from the University of Michigan. He served as a Political Consultant at RAND from 1987-1997, and as a Senior Research Associate at the Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS), Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey (1997-1998). He has worked closely with former Senator Sam Nunn drafting policy recommendations and background studies on future directions for the U.S. Cooperative Threat Reduction Program, building regional and energy security regimes in Central Asia and the South Caucasus, and engaging Russia’s regional power centers. Dr. Stulberg was a post-doctoral fellow at CNS; policy scholar at the EastWest Institute; and has been a consultant to the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Office of Net Assessment, Office of the U.S. Secretary of Defense. Dr. Stulberg has authored and edited five books, and has published widely in leading academic and policy journals. In addition, he served on the Executive Committee of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Technical Group, American Nuclear Society (2012-14).
Dr. Stulberg maintains a conspicuous presence both inside and outside of the classroom at Georgia Tech. He is a two-time recipient of the INTA Graduate Student Association’s “Professor of the Year,” and has received the same honor from Sigma Iota Rho, the international affairs undergraduate honor society. Dr. Stulberg was a CETL teaching fellow, and a Hesburgh Teaching Fellow. He also was the recipient of the 2010 Ivan Allen Jr. Legacy Faculty Award in recognition for his scholarship, as well as a “demonstrated commitment to serving students at the College, the Institute, and in the Community.” Dr. Stulberg has served on numerous school, college, and campus-wide committees, including as Chair of the Sam Nunn-Bank of America Policy Forum (2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2020-2026). He was previously on the Faculty Advisory Board and is currently a Senior Faculty Advisor to the Strategic Energy Institute (a GT Institute-wide Center). In 2016, the Neal Family Endowed Chair was bestowed upon Dr. Stulberg; he was appointed Chair of the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs in July 2019.
- PhD, Political Science, UCLA
- MA, International Affairs, Columbia University
- BA, History, University of Michigan
Interests
Energy & International Security
Problems of Proliferation
Russian Foreign & Security Policies
Technology & Statecraft
International Relations Theory
Comparative Statecraft
Emerging Technology & International Security
Geopolitics of Energy
Nuclear Strategy & (Non)Proliferation
Cross-domain and Gray Zone Conflict Behavior
Risk Reduction
- Comparative Politics: Regional Studies
- Emerging Technology and Security
- Global Energy Security
- Global Nuclear Security
- International Security Policy
- Regional Security Challenges
- Science, Technology, and International Policy
Focuses:
- Asia (North) / Eurasia
- Asia (South)
- Europe
- Middle East
- Energy
- Weapons and Security
- Armed Conflict
- Diffusion of Technology
- Emerging Technologies - Innovation
- Foreign Policy
- National Intelligence
- National Security
- Non-Traditional Security Challenges
- Strategy
Courses
- INTA-2001: Careers In Intl Affairs
- INTA-3042: Energy & Intl Security
- INTA-3121: Russia and Eurasia
- INTA-3803: Special Topics
- INTA-4699: Undergraduate Research
- INTA-4803: Special Topics
- INTA-6103: International Security
- INTA-6106: The State-Intl Affairs
- INTA-8803: Special Topics
Publications
Recent Publications
Journal Articles
- Networks and Nuclear Diffusion
In: The Nonproliferation Review [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2026
- Tacit Knowledge Networks and Nuclear Energy Aspirants: Case Studies from Southeast Asia and the Middle East
In: The Nonproliferation Review [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2026
- Recasting the Geopolitics of U.S.-Russian Commercial Nuclear Rivalry: Embracing Strategic Complementarity
In: The Nonproliferation Review [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2023
Chapters
- Conclusion
In: Todd S. Sechser, Neil Narang, and Caitlin Talmadge, eds., Emerging Technologies and International Stability [Peer Reviewed]
Date: December 2021
Internet Publications
All Publications
Books
- The End of Strategic Stability? Nuclear Weapons and the Challenge of Regional Rivalries
Date: 2018
- The Nuclear Renaissance and International Security
Date: December 2012
Interest in nuclear energy has surged in recent years, yet there are risks that accompany the global diffusion of nuclear power - especially the possibility that the spread of nuclear energy will facilitate nuclear weapons proliferation. In this book, leading experts analyze the tradeoffs associated with nuclear energy and put the nuclear renaissance in historical context, evaluating both the causes and the strategic effects of nuclear energy development.
They probe critical issues relating to the nuclear renaissance, including if and how peaceful nuclear programs contribute to nuclear weapons proliferation, whether the diffusion of nuclear technologies lead to an increase in the trafficking of nuclear materials, and under what circumstances the diffusion of nuclear technologies and latent nuclear weapons capabilities can influence international stability and conflict. The book will help scholars and policymakers understand why countries are pursuing nuclear energy and evaluate whether this is a trend we should welcome or fear.
- Managing Defense Transformation: Agency, Culture and Service Change
Date: July 2007
- Well-Oiled Diplomacy: Strategic Manipulation and Russia’s Energy
Statecraft in Eurasia
Date: April 2007
- Preventing Nuclear Meltdown: Managing Decentralization of Russia’sNuclear Comple
Date: October 2004
Journal Articles
- Networks and Nuclear Diffusion
In: The Nonproliferation Review [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2026
- Tacit Knowledge Networks and Nuclear Energy Aspirants: Case Studies from Southeast Asia and the Middle East
In: The Nonproliferation Review [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2026
- Recasting the Geopolitics of U.S.-Russian Commercial Nuclear Rivalry: Embracing Strategic Complementarity
In: The Nonproliferation Review [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2023
- Statecraft in US-Russian Relations: Meaning, Dilemmas, and Significance
In: International Trends (Russia) [Peer Reviewed]
Date: March 2021
- The Cloud of Sanctions: Contending US-Russian Approaches and Implications
In: International Trends (Russia) [Peer Reviewed]
Date: March 2021
- Deaf Ears and the U.S.-EU-Russia Sanctions Tangle: Contending Strategic Discourses and Mutual Emboldenment
In: International Organisations Research Journal
Date: December 2019
- Natural Gas and the Russia-Ukraine Crisis: Strategic Restraint and the Emerging Europe-Asia Gas Network
In: Energy Research & Social Science [Peer Reviewed]
Date: February 2017
- Out of Gas: Russia, Ukraine, and the Changing Geopolitics of Natural Gas
Date: December 2015
Out of Gas: Russia, Ukraine, and the Changing Geopolitics of Natural Gas
- Strategic bargaining and pipeline politics: Confronting the credible commitment problem in Eurasian energy transit
In: REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL ECONOMY
Date: December 2012
- Encyclopedia of Nanoscience and Society
Date: July 2010
Edited by David Guston; Adam N. Stulberg and Margaret E. Kosal have a jointly authored piece on Russia. In addition, Kosal has four other pieces on 1) Department of Defense 2) Security 3) Ethical Issues of Nano-Weapons and 4) Iran;
- Nuclear energy development: Assessing aspirant countries
In: Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
Date: November 2009
- Russia's Nonproliferation Tightrope
Date: November 2007
- Russia's nuclear industry - Centralisation, control, competition
In: Osteuropa
Date: April 2006
- Moving beyond the great game: The geoeconomics of Russia's influence in the Caspian energy bonanza
In: Geopolitics
Date: April 2005
Emboldened by the recovery of the domestic oil industry and determined to exploit comparative advantages in world markets, President Putin put Russia once again on the move to secure control over Caspian energy spoils. The revitalization of Moscow's posture renewed debate over the contours of geopolitical competition in the region, and the effectiveness of non-military instruments of state-craft more generally. Yet, much of the controversy is misplaced due to empirical and theoretical oversights. The first is due to a misreading of the record of Moscow's Caspian energy posture, and an under-appreciation for the mixed success of Russia's energy leverage across the oil and gas sectors. The second comes from the failure to understand the conditions under which institutionally weak states can manipulate markets and regulatory mechanisms in global energy relations for purposes of national security. The article offers a first cut at substantiating these claims by examining the geoeconomic dimensions to Russia's Caspian energy policy. Copyright © 2005 Taylor & Francis, Inc. - Fueling Transatlantic Entente in the Caspian: Energy Security and Collective Action
Date: 2005
Fueling Transatlantic Entente in the Caspian: Energy Security and Collective Action - Managing military transformations: Agency, culture, and the US carrier revolution
In: SECURITY STUDIES
Date: 2005
- The federal politics of importing spent nuclear fuel: Inter-branch bargaining and oversight in the new Russia
In: Europe-Asia Studies
Date: June 2004
- The many faces of modern Russia
In: FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Date: 2000
Chapters
- Conclusion
In: Todd S. Sechser, Neil Narang, and Caitlin Talmadge, eds., Emerging Technologies and International Stability [Peer Reviewed]
Date: December 2021
- Moving Beyond Self-Restraint: Bilateral Commercial Nuclear Supply and US-Russian Tacit Understanding on Nuclear Security and Safeguards
In: Sarah Bidgood and William C. Potter, eds. End of an Era: The United States, Russia, and Nuclear Nonproliferation
Date: December 2021
- Conclusion
In: The End of Strategic Stability [Peer Reviewed]
Date: August 2018
- Introduction
In: The End of Strategic Stability [Peer Reviewed]
Date: August 2018
- Energy and International Security
In: Oxford Bibliographies in International Relations
Date: 2017
- Dilemmas and Prospects for Russian-Northeast Asian Energy Security
Date: May 2015
- Internationalization of the Fuel Cycle and the Nuclear
Energy Renaissance: Confronting the Credible Commitment Problem
Conferences
- Mapping Technology and Knowledge Transfer Networks
In: Proceedings IAEA Symposium on International Safeguards: Building Future Safeguards Capabilities
Date: November 2018
- Global Emergence of Natural Gas, a Complex Systems Analysis
Date: December 2015
"Global Emergence of Natural Gas, a Complex Systems Analysis;"
Internet Publications
- Deciphering Russia’s Playbook: Lessons from the Lead-up to Putin’s War in Ukraine
Date: November 2022
- Sanctions and War: Contending Western-Russian Approaches & Prospects for Strategic Stability
In: PONARS Eurasia Policy Memo #717
Date: November 2021
- Great Power Competition Below the Line: Comparative (and Contending) Approaches to Strategic Stability
In: Present and Future Challenges to Maintaining Balance Between Global Cooperation and Competition
Date: November 2020
- Turning Rivals into Frenemies: Shifting U.S.-Russian Trajectories at the Nexus of Global Nuclear Commerce and Nonproliferation
In: PONARS Eurasia Policy Memo #675
Date: November 2020
- Russia’s Response to Sanctions: Reciprocal, Asymmetrical, or Orthogonal?
In: PONARS Eurasia Policy Memo #633
Date: January 2020
- Escaping the Energy Sanctions Tangle: Gas Networks & Off-Ramps from Escalation in US-EU-Russia Relations,”
In: PONARS Eurasia Policy Memo #498
Date: December 2017
- Natural Gas and the Ukraine Crisis: From Realpolitik to Network Diplomacy
In: PONARS Eurasia Policy Memo #338
Date: August 2014
- Russia and the Geopolitics of Natural Gas: Leveraging or Succumbing to Revolution
Date: September 2013
Russia and the Geopolitics of Natural Gas: Leveraging or Succumbing to Revolution
Interviews
- The Geopolitics of Oil and Gas
Date: December 2014
The Geopolitics of Oil and Gas
Other Publications
- Geopolitical Implications of the Golden Age of Gas: A Framework for Modeling and Assessing Alternative Futures
Date: December 2014
“Geopolitical Implications of the Golden Age of Gas: A Framework for Modeling and Assessing Alternative Futures,” Georgia Tech Strategic Energy Institute publication, 2014 - “Russia and the Geopolitics of Natural Gas: Leveraging or Succumbing toRevolution?”
In: PONARS Eurasia Policy Memo #296 [Peer Reviewed]
Date: September 2013
- Eurasia’s Pipeline Tangle
In: Russia in Global Affairs [Peer Reviewed]
Date: November 2011
- “U.S. Policy and Energy Security in the Asia-Pacific Region: Reconciling
Commercial and Strategic Interests within APEC”
In: The Study on Asia-Pacific Regional Energy Security [Peer Reviewed]
Date: November 2011
- “Russia’s Energy Security Dilemmas in Northeast Asia: Contending withthe Different Faces of Resource Nationalism”
In: PONARS Eurasia Policy Memo #170 [Peer Reviewed]
Date: September 2011
- “Narrowing the Gap Between the Worlds of Nuclear Scholarship andPractice: Bringing the Academy Back In”
In: CNS Occasional Paper Series [Peer Reviewed]
Date: December 2009
- “Turning Pipe Dreams into Pipelines: Eurasian Energy Transit and theCredible Commitment Problem”
In: PONARS Eurasia Policy Memo [Peer Reviewed]
Date: July 2009
- Soviet Computing - List of Publications
Date: 2009
- Russia and the Nanotechnology Revolution: Looking Beyond the Hype
In: Nature Review Neuroscience
Date: August 2008
- “Russia and the Nanotechnology Revolution: Looking Beyond the Hype”
In: PONARS Eurasia Policy Memo [Peer Reviewed]
Date: July 2008
- “Fueling Transatlantic Entente in the Caspian: Energy Security and
Collective Action”
In: Contemporary Security Policy [Peer Reviewed]
Date: February 2005
- Russia Faces the Future: Final Report of the Russia Initiative.
Date: May 2001
- U.S.-Russian-NIS Cooperation to Prevent Deadly Conflict: A Report of a
Commission Task Force
Date: December 1999
- Leveraging Preponderance: Agenda Control and Russia’s Energy
Statecraft in the Caspian Basin
- “Managing the Unmanned Revolution in the U.S. Air Force”
In: Orbis [Peer Reviewed]
- “Nuclear Energy Development: Assessing Aspirant Countries,” (with
Bernard Gourley)
In: Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists [Peer Reviewed]
Updated: Dec 8th, 2025 at 3:27 PM