• Research
  • Emissary
  • About
  • Experts
Carnegie Global logoCarnegie lettermark logo
DemocracyIran
  • Donate
{
  "authors": [
    "Tristan Volpe"
  ],
  "type": "legacyinthemedia",
  "centerAffiliationAll": "dc",
  "centers": [
    "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace"
  ],
  "collections": [],
  "englishNewsletterAll": "ctw",
  "nonEnglishNewsletterAll": "",
  "primaryCenter": "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
  "programAffiliation": "NPP",
  "programs": [
    "Nuclear Policy"
  ],
  "projects": [],
  "regions": [
    "United States",
    "Russia"
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Security",
    "Nuclear Policy"
  ]
}
REQUIRED IMAGE

REQUIRED IMAGE

In The Media

The Rise of the Autocratic Nuclear Marketplace

The United States established itself as the dominant supplier of civil nuclear technology in the 1960s. But Moscow soon caught up, supplanting Washington after the Cold War. What led to the rise of this autocratic nuclear marketplace?

Link Copied
By Tristan Volpe
Published on Apr 3, 2022
Program mobile hero image

Program

Nuclear Policy

The Nuclear Policy Program aims to reduce the risk of nuclear war. Our experts diagnose acute risks stemming from technical and geopolitical developments, generate pragmatic solutions, and use our global network to advance risk-reduction policies. Our work covers deterrence, disarmament, arms control, nonproliferation, and nuclear energy.

Learn More

Journal of Strategic Studies

About the Author

Tristan Volpe

Nonresident Fellow, Nuclear Policy Program

Tristan Volpe is a nonresident fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and assistant professor of defense analysis at the Naval Postgraduate School.

    Recent Work

  • Article
    Playing With Proliferation: How South Korea and Saudi Arabia Leverage the Prospect of Going Nuclear

      Tristan Volpe

  • Q&A
    Saudi Arabia’s Changing International Role
      • +4

      Joseph Bahout, Perry Cammack, David Livingston, …

Tristan Volpe
Nonresident Fellow, Nuclear Policy Program
Tristan Volpe
SecurityNuclear PolicyUnited StatesRussia

Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

More Work from Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

  • Person pointing and shouting while holding a protest sign against the Ebola facility
    Commentary
    Emissary
    The Bigger Problem with the U.S.-Kenya Ebola Deal

    Washington’s transactional foreign policy is making it indistinguishable from Beijing’s, with consequential implications for African agency.

      Jane Munga

  • Commentary
    Carnegie Politika
    Belarus Is a Test Case for Ukraine’s New Role in the Region

    Ukraine’s increasingly confrontational posture on Belarus reflects Kyiv’s effort to shape the emerging regional order in Eastern Europe. Kyiv wants to limit European normalization with Minsk—and any future rapprochement with Russia.

      Balázs Jarábik

  • Paper
    Loyal but Powerless: The Downgrading of Russia’s Elite

    The ruling elites in contemporary Russia are not a political class, but a community of managers who are not subject to competition or public accountability. The state is becoming an operating apparatus without any internal autonomy.

      Alexandra Prokopenko

  • Commentary
    Diwan
    Board Up Donald Trump’s Failed Board of Peace

    What is behind Marco Rubio’s announcement that the body is now an international nongovernmental organization?

      • Zaha Hassan

      Zaha Hassan

  • US President Donald Trump delivers remarks to the United Nations General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York City on September 23, 2025.
    Paper
    Retreat, Rebel, Replace, or Reform? Making Sense of Multilateralism Under Trump 2.0

    The conventional narrative of the second Trump administration simply repudiating multilateralism is incomplete. The record to date is far more mixed and varies across issue areas and institutions.

      Gustavo Romero, Stewart Patrick

Get more news and analysis from
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Carnegie global logo, stacked
1779 Massachusetts Avenue NWWashington, DC, 20036-2103Phone: 202 483 7600
  • Research
  • Emissary
  • About
  • Experts
  • Donate
  • Programs
  • Events
  • Blogs
  • Podcasts
  • Contact
  • Annual Reports
  • Careers
  • Privacy
  • For Media
  • Government Resources
Get more news and analysis from
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
© 2026 Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. All rights reserved.