Frank Kuhn

Doctoral Researcher

Frank Kuhn is a Doctoral Researcher at PRIF’s Research Depart­ment Inter­national Security. His research interests include nuclear deterrence, arms control and non-proliferation, as well as military techno­logy, strategy, and operations.

kuhn(at)prif.org
 Press photo

CV

| since 2024
Doctoral Researcher at PRIF

| 2023–2025
Project Coordinator, Cluster for Natural and Technical Science Arms Control Research (CNTR)

| 2025
Nuclear Scholar, Project on Nuclear Issues (PONI), Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Washington, D.C.

| 2024–2025
Temporary Assignment at the Federal Foreign Office, Division OR09 – Nuclear Arms Control, Non-Proliferation and Disarmament, Berlin

| 2019–2022
Student/Research Assistant at PRIF Press and Public Relations / EU Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Consortium

| 2018–2022
M.A. International Studies/Peace and Conflict Studies, Goethe University Frankfurt and TU Darmstadt

| 2021
Exchange Student, University of Southampton, United Kingdom

| 2020
Internship at the Federal Foreign Office, Division S03 – Crisis Prevention, Stabilization and Peacebuilding, Berlin

| 2015–2018
B.A. Political Science, Goethe University Frankfurt

PhD Project

This dissertation explores why and under what condition a nuclear power in an extended deterrence relationship initiates strategic nuclear arms control negotiations, using the United States as the central case study. While existing scholarship largely concentrates on the conditions for successful treaty outcomes, this study focuses on the often-overlooked question of why negotiations begin in the first place – particularly when a nuclear power seeks to maintain credibility of its extended deterrence commitment within an alliance structure.

Drawing on a neoclassical realist theoretical framework that combines international system and domestic politics approaches, this project hypothesizes that an extended deterrence guarantor is likely to pursue nuclear arms control when it perceives vulnerability to its homeland that cannot be mitigated through a buildup of military capabilities, due to constraints imposed by domestic politics. Using process-tracing and drawing on declassified archival materials and elite interviews, the study seeks to identify the interplay between international strategic pressures and domestic political factors as central to understanding strategic nuclear arms control initiation.

By examining the United States – the only nuclear power with a sustained history of nuclear arms control conducted within an extended deterrence framework – this research contributes to a broader theory of nuclear arms control initiation relevant to contemporary nuclear policy debates.

Projects

Highlights

More than just deterrence

en. Christopher Cavoli, commanding General of U.S. Army Europe and Africa passes the unit color to Col. Jonathan Byrom, Commander of 2nd Multi Domain Task Force during the 2nd MDTF activation ceremony on Clay Kaserne in Wiesbaden, Germany, Sept. 16, 2021 New PRIF Spotlight by Frank Kuhn discusses the stationing of US medium-range weapons in Germany

Publications

  • Balancing Lethality and Restraint
    | 2025
    Kuhn, Frank (2025): Balancing Lethality and Restraint. How Targeting Matters for Escalation Management, in: Horschig, Doreen (eds), On the Horizon: A Collection of Papers from the Next Generation, Washington, D.C.: Center for Strategic and International Studies, 146–156.
    Publication
  • Rüstungsdynamiken: Die zweite Zeitenwende
    | 2025
    Brzoszka, Michael; Bumeder; Lucian; Fella, Tobias; Kadyshev, Timur; Kelle, Alexander; Kuhn, Frank; Mengelkamp, Lukas; Mokry-Frey, Sabine; Polianskii, Mikhail; Schulze, Matthias (2025): Rüstungsdynamiken: Die zweite Zeitenwende, in: Bonn International Center for Conversion (BICC)/Leibniz-Institut Hessische Stiftung Friedens- und Konfliktforschung (HSFK)/Institut für Friedensforschung und Sicherheitspolitik an der Universität Hamburg (IFSH)/Institut für Entwicklung und Frieden (INEF) (eds), Frieden retten! Friedensgutachten 2025, Bielefeld: transcript Verlag, 87–111.
    ISBN: 978-3-8376-6939-8

  • The New US National Security Strategy: A Blog Analysis and Commentaries
    | 2025
    Yaron Levy, Ilai; Wolff, Jonas; Fehl, Caroline; Hach, Sascha; Driedger, Jonas J.; Wisotzki, Simone; Kuhn, Frank (2025): The New US National Security Strategy: A Blog Analysis and Commentaries, PRIF Blog, Frankfurt/M.
    Publication
  • The Foundations of Arms Control
    | 2025
    Daase, Christopher; Kuhn, Frank (2025): The Foundations of Arms Control, in: Schörnig, Niklas (eds), EU Non-Proliferation and Disarmament eLearning Course, Frankfurt/M: PRIF.
    Publication
  • Mehr als nur Abschreckung: Mittelstreckenwaffen und Multi-Domain-Operationen in Europa
    | 2024
    Kuhn, Frank (2024): Mehr als nur Abschreckung: Mittelstreckenwaffen und Multi-Domain-Operationen in Europa, PRIF Spotlight, 9, Frankfurt/M.. DOI: 10.48809/prifspot2409
  • Nuclear Sharing in Europe
    | 2024
    Rand, Lindsay; Selezneva , Daria; Kuhn, Frank; Bumeder, Lucian (2024): Nuclear Sharing in Europe, YDCC Report, Hamburg: Deep Cuts Project. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.13268549
    Publication
  • US-amerikanische Nuklearwaffenpolitik nach der US-Wahl 2024: Das Ende der nuklearen Abrüstung?
    | 2024
    Kuhn, Frank (2024): US-amerikanische Nuklearwaffenpolitik nach der US-Wahl 2024: Das Ende der nuklearen Abrüstung?, PRIF Blog.
    Publication
  • No Quick Solutions: A Different Approach to Hypersonic Arms Control
    | 2024
    Kuhn, Frank (2024): No Quick Solutions: A Different Approach to Hypersonic Arms Control, War on the Rocks.
    Publication
  • Court Orders Dutch Government to halt the Export of F-35 Parts to Israel: Implications for the War in Gaza and Beyond
    | 2024
    Kuhn, Frank; Hoffberger-Pippan, Elisabeth (2024): Court Orders Dutch Government to halt the Export of F-35 Parts to Israel: Implications for the War in Gaza and Beyond, PRIF Blog.
    Publication
  • Verbesserte Glaubwürdigkeit: Zur Bedeutung der F-35A für die nukleare Teilhabe
    | 2023
    Kuhn, Frank (2023): Verbesserte Glaubwürdigkeit: Zur Bedeutung der F-35A für die nukleare Teilhabe, PRIF Spotlight, 12, Frankfurt/M. DOI: 10.48809/prifspot2312
  • Making Nuclear Sharing Credible Again: What the F-35A Means for NATO
    | 2023
    Kuhn, Frank (2023): Making Nuclear Sharing Credible Again: What the F-35A Means for NATO, War on the Rocks.
    Publication
  • Das Raketenabwehrsystem Arrow 3: Eine fragliche Beschaffung
    | 2023
    Kuhn, Frank (2023): Das Raketenabwehrsystem Arrow 3: Eine fragliche Beschaffung, PRIF Blog.
    Publication
  • Kampfflugzeuge für die Ukraine und das Risiko der Eskalation: Ein Realitätscheck
    | 2023
    Kuhn, Frank (2023): Kampfflugzeuge für die Ukraine und das Risiko der Eskalation: Ein Realitätscheck, PRIF Blog.
    Publication
  • Offensive Realism and the Rise of China: A Useful Framework for Analysis?
    | 2021
    Kuhn, Frank (2021): Offensive Realism and the Rise of China: A Useful Framework for Analysis?, E-International Relations.
    Publication

Further Activities