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Staff office/program
Area of Expertise

India, Pakistan, South Asia, nuclear weapons, military development, arms control, and nonproliferation.

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617.775.5844

Dr. Frank O'Donnell is an Adjunct Fellow for the East-West Center in Washington. He is conducting research on naval and maritime security threats facing South Asia's smaller states. Frank facilitates discussions and collaborates on South Asia issues.

He is also a Senior Research Adviser in the Asia-Pacific Leadership Network for Nuclear Non-Proliferation & Disarmament, and a Nonresident Fellow in the Stimson Center South Asia Program. With a particular specialty on Southern Asia, his areas of expertise include nuclear and conventional military posturing, arms control, nonproliferation, and national security policymaking processes. He was previously Deputy Director and Fellow in the Stimson Center South Asia Program, and has held postdoctoral research roles at the Fletcher School and US Naval War College. He has been a Stanton Junior Faculty Fellow and Associate at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University, an Assistant Professor (UK: Lecturer) at the Britannia Royal Naval College, and has held additional research positions at the University of Aberdeen and James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies.

Frank is co-editor of the Routledge Handbook of the International Relations of South Asia (2022), in which he also contributed a chapter on conventional military doctrines and their nuclear escalation risks. He is co-author of India and Nuclear Asia: Forces, Doctrine, and Dangers (Georgetown University Press, 2018), the first single-volume book evaluating inadvertent and accidental escalation risks within the China-India-Pakistan trilateral nuclear rivalry. He has also contributed articles on Asian security and nonproliferation topics in Asian Security, Asian Survey, Comparative Strategy, Contemporary Security Policy, International Affairs, Journal of Indo-Pacific Affairs, Nonproliferation Review, Orbis, Survival, and Washington Quarterly journals. His commentary on these issues has also appeared or been cited by Agence France-Presse, Bloomberg, CNN, The Diplomat, The Economist, The Hindu, Hindustan Times, India Today, NPR, and other international media.

Frank holds a PhD in Defense Studies from King’s College London, an MSc in Strategic Studies from the University of Aberdeen, and an MA in International Relations and Middle East Studies from the University of St. Andrews.

Dr. Frank O'Donnell is an Adjunct Fellow for the East-West Center in Washington. He is conducting research on naval and maritime security threats facing South Asia's smaller states. Frank facilitates discussions and collaborates on South Asia issues.

He is also a Senior Research Adviser in the Asia-Pacific Leadership Network for Nuclear Non-Proliferation & Disarmament, and a Nonresident Fellow in the Stimson Center South Asia Program. With a particular specialty on Southern Asia, his areas of expertise include nuclear and conventional military posturing, arms control, nonproliferation, and national security policymaking processes. He was previously Deputy Director and Fellow in the Stimson Center South Asia Program, and has held postdoctoral research roles at the Fletcher School and US Naval War College. He has been a Stanton Junior Faculty Fellow and Associate at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University, an Assistant Professor (UK: Lecturer) at the Britannia Royal Naval College, and has held additional research positions at the University of Aberdeen and James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies.

Frank is co-editor of the Routledge Handbook of the International Relations of South Asia (2022), in which he also contributed a chapter on conventional military doctrines and their nuclear escalation risks. He is co-author of India and Nuclear Asia: Forces, Doctrine, and Dangers (Georgetown University Press, 2018), the first single-volume book evaluating inadvertent and accidental escalation risks within the China-India-Pakistan trilateral nuclear rivalry. He has also contributed articles on Asian security and nonproliferation topics in Asian Security, Asian Survey, Comparative Strategy, Contemporary Security Policy, International Affairs, Journal of Indo-Pacific Affairs, Nonproliferation Review, Orbis, Survival, and Washington Quarterly journals. His commentary on these issues has also appeared or been cited by Agence France-Presse, Bloomberg, CNN, The Diplomat, The Economist, The Hindu, Hindustan Times, India Today, NPR, and other international media.

Frank holds a PhD in Defense Studies from King’s College London, an MSc in Strategic Studies from the University of Aberdeen, and an MA in International Relations and Middle East Studies from the University of St. Andrews.

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