Caroline Milne

Dr. Caroline R. Milne is a Research Staff Member in the Strategy, Forces, and Resources Division at the Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA). As a principal analyst on the Nuclear Policy and Strategy team, she designs, conducts, drafts, and briefs studies and analysis in support of a variety of defense and foreign policy practitioners in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Air Force, Combatant Commands, and other national security agencies. Notable, specific research actions include serving as primary investigator for a Congressionally-mandated study on the potential ramifications of U.S. adoption of an NFU policy; using all-source intelligence to depict the balance between U.S. and Russian non-strategic nuclear forces and to test hypotheses about how that balance matters; and assuming a lead role on a Congressionally-mandated study on the presidential decision process related to the employment of nuclear weapons. In 2017 Dr. Milne earned her Ph.D. from the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs for a dissertation that examined the extent to which nuclear rivals perceive a condition of mutual vulnerability to be inescapable. Prior to her doctoral studies, Dr. Milne was a research assistant with the RAND Corporation, supporting work on defense strategy, planning, and acquisition issues; she returned to RAND for a Stanton Nuclear Security Fellowship during her graduate work. Dr. Milne also holds an M.A. in Science and Security from King’s College London and a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology