Elizabeth Mendenhall’s paper “Nuclear Weapon Free Zones and Contemporary Arms Control,” published in the Winter edition of Strategic Studies Quarterly has won the junior division of the 2020 General Larry D. Welch Deterrence Writing Award sponsored by United States Strategic Command. In order top select the winners, a team of deterrence experts evaluated relevant papers on their applicability to current deterrence issues, quality of argument, historical accuracy, quality of reference material, and implications for future deterrence analysis, planning, and operation.
Receipt of the award was recognized on 13 November during the USSTRATCOM Deterrence Symposium.

The paper, which can be accessed here, surveys existing nuclear weapon free zones (NWFZs) and describes their goals and the role of nuclear-armed
states in creating and maintaining the zones. It also evaluates the prospects for
creating three new NWFZs as a productive contribution to disarmament
and nonproliferation including nuclear zero. Dr. Mendenhall ultimately concludes that “Although flexibility in the NWFZ model can increase its
usefulness for nonproliferation and limited disarmament in challenging
regional security environments, too much flexibility may guarantee that
NWFZs will never be an effective means of reaching global zero.”