Aaron Bateman

Recruitment ad from the 1950s for technical manpower to operate and maintain the DEW Line radars and White Alice communications networks, key parts of the early U.S. NC3 infrastructure.

Here's @fionacunningham.bsky.social and Kristin Bruusgaard on nuclear strategy, from their piece in @intsecurity.bsky.social @mitpress.bsky.social @belfercenter.bsky.social @pearson-edits.bsky.social www.lawfaremedia.org/article/the-...

I’m thrilled to share that my @princetonupress.bsky.social book “Under the Nuclear Shadow” has won the @mershoncenter.bsky.social ‘s Edgar S. Furniss award! Thank you to the selection committee for this honor! mershoncenter.osu.edu/news/fiona-c...

I'm delighted to share that our inaugural workshop "Intelligence in the Southern Hemisphere: Past and Present" at Macquarie University in Sydney was a great success. We look forward to continuing the conversation at future events!

Fantastic meeting of intelligence studies people in Sydney at Macquarie University with MQ @socintelhist.bsky.social. Thanks to @melaniebrand.bsky.social, Brian Cuddy and @aaronbateman.bsky.social for organising. Very valuable and hope to do it again soon.

It's always a good time visiting NASA's Deep Space Communications Network site near Canberra, Australia. Watching the kangaroos grazing nearby was an added bonus.

The declassified 1962 memo for the UK prime minister informing him (in shakespearean prose) that the US accidentally fried Britain's Ariel satellite with its Starfish Prime nuclear test.

I am so honored that my book received the Peter Katzenstein Book Prize! The nuclear chapter also provides useful context on China’s SLBM test today.

I'm excited to share that I have a volume co-edited with Anthony Eames under contract with Cornell University Press, called Racing for Technology: An International History of SDI. The volume covers NATO , China, Japan, South Korea, Israel, and the Warsaw Pact.

I am thrilled to share that my @princetonupress.bsky.social book “Under the Nuclear Shadow: China’s Information-Age Weapons in International Security” has won the 2026 Peter Katzenstein Book Prize! Thank you to the selection committee, I am so honored! government.cornell.edu/peter-katzen...

Norway will participate in France's "forward deterrence" nuclear initiative. Norway will also sign a mutual defense treaty with France, known as the Narvik Agreement. www.tv2.no/nyheter/plan...

David Holloway's new tome on the international history of nuclear weapons has arrived!

Thanks so much to True Anomaly for having me out to their facility in Colorado to talk about my book "Weapons in Space." I thoroughly enjoyed touring their satellite fabrication facility and seeing some of their space defense projects. It's a very interesting time in the commercial space arena!

This is a declassified 1981 memo from Richard Allen (then national security advisor) about a recent test of the Soviet Union's co-orbital anti-satellite weapon. The Soviets were testing out a new optical sensor for target acquisition.

I am thrilled to share my new *open access* article in Security Studies, “Other than Law: Legitimizing China’s Nuclear Strategy.” www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Declassified 1982 study about improving the survivability of U.S. military and intelligence space systems.

I'm still shocked when people ask, "aren't all archives online now" ... no, far from it. Most of the best stuff is buried away in dusty files in the most unexpected places.

Yes, going back to the Cold War, aligning political and industrial goals in the context of joint defense projects proved to be v. difficult both between the US and Europe and within Europe.

Some of the recently declassified images of the NRO's Cold War-era JUMPSEAT HEO signals intelligence satellite program. lnkd.in/eGym2xBj

The National Reconnaissance Office has declassified limited details about JUMPSEAT, a Cold War-era signals intelligence satellite program in HEO. www.nro.gov/news-media-f...

The U.S. competitive advantage in space depends on infrastructure hosted by allies. @aaronbateman.bsky.social explains the terrestrial space race in the Foreign Policy Essay.

My latest piece in @lawfaremedia.org

Great discussion about subsea cable security at IISS in Singapore. The office view is pretty great too.

Beautiful view this morning of the Singapore Strait

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed exploring the Cold War-era subsea cable collections at the National Archives of Singapore.

Many thanks to Will James for hosting me at RSIS (Nanyang Technological University) in Singapore to give a talk on U.S. Spacepower and alliance politics from the Cold War to today.

I’m looking forward to giving a talk in Singapore next week on the role of terrestrial space infrastructure in shaping US alliances from the Cold War to today. If you are Singapore based and interested in attending, registration details can be found below: rsis.edu.sg/event/rsis-s...

1) ***Announcement*** The new Fall 2025 issue is online! Read articles by Marc Trachtenberg, @aaronbateman.bsky.social, @ajmount.bsky.social, Dong Jung Kim, and @mikegoldfien.bsky.social direct.mit.edu/isec/issue @mitpress.bsky.social @belfercenter.bsky.social

3) “U.S. Space Power and Alliance Dynamics in the Cold War,” by @aaronbateman.bsky.social doi.org/10.1162/ISEC... This article is Open Access.

I'm pleased to share my open access article in International Security on the role of allies in U.S. space power. direct.mit.edu/isec/article...

"Weapons in Space" by @aaronbateman.bsky.social is a must-read for those wanting to understand the origins of arms control in space - it's now open access! 🏃

Many thanks to @mitpress.bsky.social for generously making the digital version of my book, Weapons in Space, open access! It can be accessed here: direct.mit.edu/books/oa-mon...

Fall 2025 issue preview @intsecurity.bsky.social! M. Trachtenberg | rules-based international order @aaronbateman.bsky.social | U.S. space power @ajmount.bsky.social | conventional deterrence of nuclear use DJ Kim | clients’ demand evasion @mikegoldfien.bsky.social | hawks, doves, & rapprochement

I'm thrilled to have an article in the fall volume of International Security on the role of allies in U.S. space power during the Cold War!

The IHPST is hiring! Assistant Professor - Philosophy of Science and/or Technology. jobs.utoronto.ca/job/Toronto-...

job alert: My department is now running a search to fill a newly inaugurated endowed chair in the History of Technology. Please consider applying/share widely. I'm not on the committee, but happy to answer questions or connect you with those who are. Details here: recruit.ap.uci.edu/JPF09897

Many thanks to RUSI for hosting me in London to talk about space security and the transatlantic alliance from the Cold War to today

After a long hiatus, AIP's postdoc position for historians of the physical sciences is back! 3 years, $77,500 per year + benefits. Work in the Washington, DC area, close to Univ of Maryland. Open to US citizens/permanent residents. Apply by Nov. 15! #histsci workforcenow.adp.com/mascsr/defau...

Beautiful approach into Heathrow this morning

At the Elliott School of International Affairs we are searching for a senior scholar (associate or full) of international security who will also be appointed to the Political Science Department. Elliott is a fantastic community. See details below: www.gwu.jobs/postings/122...

Here's a post I've wanted to write up for awhile, tracing the history of the idea of a "Doomsday Machine," from fact to fiction (or maybe it was always, to some degree, fiction): doomsdaymachines.net/p/inventing-...

I'm happy to share that my second book, Wiring an Empire: Information Networks and U.S. Global Power in the Cold War, is under advance contract with MIT Press.

From the National Reconnaissance Office "Space Race Wasn't Just about the Moon." Good to see the NRO making its history as the single largest source of U.S. intelligence during the Cold War more accessible www.youtube.com/shorts/m4f0K...

Interesting new article in JSS about Norwegian-US nuclear intelligence sharing www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

On 3 Oct I'll be in London to give a talk at RUSI about the origins/ evolution of space-based missile defense and its implications for space security and the transatlantic alliance. If you happen to be in London and are interested, the registration details are below: my.rusi.org/events/the-e...

🚨 How & why do nuclear delivery vehicles proliferate? My article on the spread of delivery vehicles is out at Security Studies! #OpenAccess It explains: - Why the NPT allows nuclear delivery vehicles to spread - How did India acquire its #nuclear delivery technology tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

From a 1978 NDAA authorization hearing, the U.S. Worldwide Military Command and Control System