Dr Hassan Elbahtimy

Hassan Elbahtimy is Senior Lecturer in the Department of War studies. He is a Trustee and Executive Committee member of the British International Studies Association (BISA) and currently chairs BISA’s L.H.M. Ling Outstanding First Book Prize. He is also an Associate Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy.

Hassan’s research focuses on international security and particularly two areas: the global politics of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons; and the history and modern politics of the Middle East. He has written widely on these topics including in Foreign Affairs, Journal of Strategic Studies, Security Studies and the Nonproliferation Review among others. In 2019, his research was awarded the McElveny Grand Prize by the Nonproliferation Review. A list of his academic publications can be found here.

From 2014 to 2016, Hassan ran an innovative research and training project on the role of human factors in nuclear verification in partnership with the Norwegian Institute of Energy Technology and the UK Atomic Weapons Establishment. This included running eight verification simulations in Norway involving British, German, Egyptian, South African, American and Russian participants. He is currently a member of the International Partnership for Nuclear Disarmament Verification (IPNDV). Since 2015, he has co-edited, with Professor John Simpson, the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Briefing Book that is updated regularly and serves as a reference guide to diplomats, civil society and academics working on the nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament regime.

Prior to joining King’s College London, Hassan worked as a senior researcher at VERTIC, focusing on the verification of international arms control treaties. In that position, he participated in the ground breaking UK-Norway Initiative on verifying warhead dismantlement. He also ran international professional development courses on nuclear safeguards and regulations. Hassan holds a PhD and MA in Science and Security from the War Studies Department, a Diplôme d'Université - (D.U.) in International Nuclear Law from the University of Montpellier, and M.B.B.Ch (M.D.) from Cairo University. He was awarded the United Nations Disarmament Fellowship in 2006.

Research

• Politics of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and their technologies
• Arms control verification
• Science, technology and global governance
• International norms
• Health security
• Security in the Middle East

Teaching

• Science and security of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons (MA)
• Current issues in science and security (MA)
• Proliferation and international security (MA)
• Contemporary security issues (BA)
• Homegrown radicalisation (MA)
• Understanding deterrence in theory and practice (MA)
• Arms control case studies, 1968- today (MA)
• PhD supervision on issues listed in research interests