McNair Scholar 2022 - Kelso Anderson
Kelso Anderson is a junior at the University of Minnesota majoring in political science and global studies. His research interests include international security, unipolarity, and U.S. grand strategy after the Cold War. He plans on earning a Ph.D. in political science with a concentration in international relations.
Quote from Kelso Anderson
"My dream is to earn a Ph.D. in political science and contribute to both the theory and practice of international relations. I hope to be part of the growing effort to reclaim the academy’s policy relevance and leave behind what one scholar has called the ‘cult of the irrelevant’ in the social sciences."
Research project
The Coming End of U.S. Nonproliferation Policy
Abstract: For over seven decades, preventing the spread of nuclear weapons has been a core feature of American foreign policy. This policy has relied on a set of conditions—international, domestic, and normative—unique to the post-1945 world. A favorable balance of power has given U.S. policymakers an interest in nonproliferation and provided them the tools to shift states’ incentives toward nuclear acquisition. Domestic political consensus has allowed nonproliferation policies to endure despite domestic transfers of power. American normative appeal has led to voluntary compliance with the nonproliferation regime and reduced the policies’ cost. But these foundations of U.S. nonproliferation policy are now eroding. A worsening balance of power, domestic dysfunction and polarization, and reduced U.S. legitimacy within the global nuclear order all mean that effective nonproliferation policy is coming to an end—and if current trends continue, the U.S. will find itself increasingly irrelevant to other states’ nuclear choices.
Faculty mentors
Mark Bell is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Minnesota. He earned his Master in Public Policy from Harvard Kennedy School in 2010 and his Ph.D. in political science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2016. His research examines issues related to nuclear weapons and nuclear proliferation, international relations theory, and U.S. and British foreign policy. His first book, Nuclear Reactions: How Nuclear-Armed States Behave, was published by Cornell University Press in 2021. This is his first year as a McNair faculty mentor.
Cheyenne Tretter is a third-year Ph.D. student in the Department of Political Science at Columbia University. She earned her B.A. in political science from the University of Minnesota in 2020. Her research interests include nuclear weapons and nuclear proliferation, international security, and emerging technologies.