Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory



  durkalec1@llnl.gov      (925) 422-0370

Photo of Jacek Durklec

Dr. Jacek Durkalec is a senior fellow at the Center for Global Security Research (CGSR) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). He is also affiliated to the Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC) at Stanford University.

His research focuses on U.S. policy of extended deterrence in the context of current global challenges and increasingly integrated spheres of strategic deterrence and influence. In particular, he explores how U.S. alliances in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region need to adapt to multidomain and transregional character of 21st century competition and conflict.

From 2017 to 2020, Jacek was a postdoctoral research fellow at CGSR. Prior to joining LLNL, he was a research analyst at the Polish Institute of International Affairs (PISM) from 2010 to 2017. Jacek was also a staff member in the Missile Defence Office of the Polish Ministry of National Defence in 2009-2010, and an intern in the Strategic Planning Unit of the Executive Office of the Secretary-General of the United Nations in 2008.

Jacek holds a doctorate in political science (2016) and master's degree in international relations (2008) from Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland. In 2015, he was a visiting scholar at the National Security Affairs Department of the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California.

Jacek authored more than 50 publications and presented at more than 50 conferences and seminars on topics related to US extended deterrence, NATO deterrence and defense policy, nuclear and conventional arms control, missile defense, and WMD non-proliferation.

Selected Publications:

Nuclear decision-making, complexity and emerging and disruptive technologies: A comprehensive assessment. European Leadership Network (co-authors: Anna Peczelli, Brian Radzinsky, Jacek Durkalec) February 2022

"NATO strategy to counter nuclear intimidation," NDC Research Paper No.10 Recalibrating NATO Nuclear Policy (June 2020).

"European Security without the INF Treaty," NATO Review (September 2019).

"The 2018 U.S. Nuclear Posture Review, NATO's Brussels Summit and Beyond," Center for Global Security Research, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (June 2018).

"The Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty at fifty: a midlife crisis," NATO Review (June 2018).

"U.S. Extended Deterrence in Europe and in the Asia-Pacific: Similarities, Differences, and Interdependencies, Workshop Summary," Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (January 2018).

"NATO Nuclear Adaptation at the Warsaw Summit," NATO and Collective Defense in the 21st Century: An Assessment of the Warsaw Summit , K. Friis (ed.), Routledge (2017).

"NATO's Nuclear Deterrence: Closing Credibility Gaps," The Polish Quarterly of International Affair 1 p37-50 (2016) with M. Kroenig.

Nuclear-Backed Little Green Men: Nuclear Messaging in the Ukraine Crisis, Polish Institute of International Affairs, Warsaw (July 2015).

Options for Transparency and Confidence-Building Measures Related to Non-Strategic Nuclear Weapons in Europe: Cost-Benefit Matrix, Polish Institute of International Affairs, Warsaw, July 2014 (co-authored with A. Zagorski).

"The Role of Missile Defence in NATO Deterrence," M.A. Piotrowski (ed.), Regional Approaches to the role of Missile Defence in Reducing Nuclear Threats, Polish Institute of International Affairs, Warsaw, July 2013.

"The Proliferation Security Initiative: Evolution and Future Prospects," EU Non-Proliferation Papers 16 (June 2012).