Kelsey Hartigan

Kelsey Hartigan is the deputy director of the Project on Nuclear Issues (PONI) and a senior fellow with the International Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). In this role, she is responsible for managing the country’s preeminent national program for developing the next generation of nuclear experts. Prior to joining CSIS, Hartigan was dual-hatted as a faculty associate at the Naval Postgraduate School and a senior adviser to the director of the U.S. Special Operations Command Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Directorate. From 2016 to 2019, she served as a policy adviser on North Korea, weapons of mass destruction crisis response planning, and nuclear proliferation in the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Policy. Before joining the Department of Defense, Hartigan was a senior program officer at the Nuclear Threat Initiative and a nonproliferation and defense analyst at the National Security Network. She has also held positions with the International Security and Nuclear Weapons Program at the Henry L. Stimson Center and the U.S. Department of State's Delegation to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, Switzerland. Hartigan holds an MA from Georgetown University's Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, where she focused on technology and national security, and a BA from Purdue University.
Areas of Expertise
Media Queries
- H. Andrew Schwartz
- Chief Communications Officer
- 202.775.3242
- aschwartz@csis.org
- Paige Montfort
- Media Relations Manager, External Relations
- 202.775.3173
- pmontfort@csis.org
All content by Kelsey Hartigan
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2023 Fall Conference
Event by Kelsey Hartigan and Lachlan MacKenzie — October 25, 2023
Capstone Conference
Event by Kelsey Hartigan , Jessica Link , and Lachlan MacKenzie — June 15, 2023
POSTPONED: Navigating the Maritime Domain: A Conversation with Admiral Lisa Franchetti, Vice Chief of Naval Operations of the U.S. Navy
Event by Kelsey Hartigan and Admiral Lisa M. Franchetti — June 5, 2023
Alternative Nuclear Futures: Capability and Credibility Challenges for U.S. Extended Nuclear Deterrence
Report by Heather Williams , Kelsey Hartigan , Joseph Rodgers , and Reja Younis — May 8, 2023
Press Briefing: Previewing AUKUS Leaders' Meeting
Event by Charles Edel , Max Bergmann , Emily Harding , and Kelsey Hartigan — March 10, 2023
Press Briefing: Previewing AUKUS Leaders' Meeting
Transcript by Charles Edel , Max Bergmann , Emily Harding , and Kelsey Hartigan — March 10, 2023
Future Steps for U.S.-ROK Extended Deterrence Consultations
Commentary by Kelsey Hartigan — February 10, 2023
Report Launch: Growing Challenges, Rising Ambitions: AUSMIN 2022 and Expanding U.S.-Australia Cooperation
Event by Charles Edel , Matthew P. Goodman , Mick Ryan , Kelsey Hartigan , and Seiyeon Ji — December 1, 2022
The Nuclear Posture in Review
Event by Heather Williams , Kelsey Hartigan , and Kathleen McInnis — July 29, 2022