The Arms Control Poseur

In this episode of The Arms Control Primer, host Dr Alexander Bollfrass speaks with Dr Hassan Elbahtimy and Robert Kelley about Libya’s nuclear ambitions from 1969 to 2003, from foreign assistance and links to the A.Q. Khan network to the inspections that followed Muammar Gaddafi’s decision to abandon the programme and the lessons it holds for arms control and verification.📩 Join the conversation—follow us on X (@IISS_org), LinkedIn or Instagram (iissorg) or visit the webpage of our Strategy, Technology and Arms Control research programme: Strategy, Technology and Arms Control | IISS Research programme  

In this episode of The Arms Control Primer, host Dr Alexander Bollfrass is joined by Prof Anna-Mart van Wyk and Dr Robin E. Möser to explore how apartheid-era South Africa built a nuclear arsenal and how, after the end of apartheid, it became the first state to dismantle its weapons entirely.  📩 Join the conversation—follow us on X (@IISS_org), LinkedIn or Instagram (iissorg) or visit the webpage of our Strategy, Technology and Arms Control research programme: Strategy, Technology and Arms Control | IISS Research programme   

In this episode of The Arms Control Primer, host Dr Alexander Bollfrass is joined by Dr Emma Rosengren and Dr Thomas Jonter to examine Sweden’s nuclear ambitions during the Cold War, from its dual-use programme and domestic debate to its renunciation of the bomb and emergence as a leader in global disarmament.📩 Join the conversation—follow us on X (@IISS_org), LinkedIn or Instagram (iissorg) or visit the website of our Strategy, Technology and Arms Control research programme: Strategy, Technology and Arms Control | IISS Research programme 

In this episode of The Arms Control Primer, host Alex Bollfrass is joined by Dr Hans Blix and Dr Stephen Herzog to examine Iraq’s nuclear ambitions under Saddam Hussein: from its early civilian programme to clandestine enrichment efforts and the post-Gulf War inspections that reshaped international safeguards and the future of arms control.📩 Join the conversation—follow us on X (@IISS_org), LinkedIn or Instagram (iissorg) or visit the website of our Strategy, Technology and Arms Control research programme: Strategy, Technology and Arms Control | IISS Research programme 

The Arms Control Poseur is now the Arms Control Primer!🎙️ Hosted by Alex Bollfrass, Season 5 explores the nuclear past, present, and future by examining countries that once pursued or possessed nuclear weapons but ultimately gave them up.What lessons can their choices teach us about non-proliferation, arms control, and disarmament today?

In the season premiere of The Arms Control Primer, host Alex Bollfrass is joined by Dr. Nicole Grajewski and Dr. Azadeh Zamirirad to unpack Iran’s nuclear programme - from its origins under the Shah to the JCPOA, the 2025 Israel–Iran conflict, and the uncertain road ahead for diplomacy, deterrence and non-proliferation.📩 Join the conversation—follow us on X (@IISS_org), LinkedIn or Instagram (iissorg) or visit the website of our Strategy, Technology and Arms Control research programme: Strategy, Technology and Arms Control | IISS Research programme 

In the last episode of season 4 of The Arms Control Poseur, host Dr Alex Bollfrass brings together insights from across the series for a sobering, thoughtful and wide-ranging discussion on nuclear strategies, global risk dynamics and the path for arms control. Alex Bollfrass is joined by Zuzanna Gwadera, a research analyst from the IISS, who reflects on moments from the season and what they reveal about the evolving global nuclear order. 📩 Join the conversation—follow us on X (@IISS_org), LinkedIn or Instagram (iissorg) or visit the website of our Strategy, Technology and Arms Control research programme: Strategy, Technology and Arms Control | IISS Research programme 

With the story of North Korea’s nuclear programme commencing in the 1950s under Kim Il Sung, following the end of the Soviet support and the imbalance of power with South Korea, Pyongyang began to see nuclear weapons not only as a deterrent, but as a necessary tool for regime survival. In this episode of The Arms Control Poseur, host Dr Alexander Bollfrass is joined by leading nuclear policy experts Dr Jingdong Yuan, Dr Daniel Salisbury and Ankit Panda to deep dive into the closed world of North Korea’s nuclear ambitions – from its Cold War roots to its modern missile arsenal and the collapse of every diplomatic effort to stop its advance. Decades of research, insights shared by intelligence leaks and firsthand accounts explain why North Korea won’t give up its nuclear weapons, what that means for US and South Korean security policy and what challenges arise for arms control on the Korean peninsula. 📩 Join the conversation—follow us on X (@IISS_org), LinkedIn or Instagram (iissorg) or visit the website of our Strategy, Technology and Arms Control research programme: Strategy, Technology and Arms Control | IISS Research programme