PISCES Staff

Curriculum Vitae

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Dr. Bryan R. Early, Director is an Associate Professor in the Political Science Department, the Director of the Center for Policy Research (CPR), and the founding Director of the Project on International Security, Commerce, and Economic Statecraft (PISCES) . He conducts research on topics related to foreign policy, international security, shadow economies, and political violence. Dr. Early is an expert on economic sanctions, strategic trade controls, and the proliferation of nuclear and aerospace technology. He has published over two dozen peer-reviewed articles that has appeared in journals such as the British Journal of Political Science, International Studies Quarterly, the Journal of Conflict Resolution, Political Psychology, Foreign Policy Analysis, and the Nonproliferation Review. His book Busted Sanctions: Explaining Why Economic Sanctions Fail (Stanford University Press, 2015) offers the first comprehensive explanation of the causes and consequences of sanctions busting. Early graduated with his PhD in Political Science from The University of Georgia in 2009 and earned his BA in Politics from Washington and Lee University in 2004. From 2008-2009, he was a research fellow at Harvard University's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. As the Director of PISCES and a principal investigator at the Center for Policy Research, Early has been the recipient of 66 grant awards totaling over $8.4 million since 2011.

Mr. Ryan Cathie, Senior Fellow is a policy expert on strategic trade controls and strategic trade control compliance issues. Mr. Cathie possesses a regional expertise in the Middle East and North Africa. He has worked with numerous governments in those regions to facilitate the development of their national strategic trade control systems. In addition, Mr. Cathie has provided on-site export control training, as well as analytical services and customized electronic compliance tools for a range of companies. He has also worked with numerous national governments to provide guidance, support, and training for both government and industry officials. Mr. Cathie received his Master of Arts from the School for Public and International Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh. Mr. Cathie joined the Center for Policy Research as a research fellow in 2011.

Ms. Lara Howe Stenberg, Senior Fellow is policy specialist with expertise on strategic trade controls and legal-regulatory development. She has experience working with major international corporations on the development of their internal compliance programs (ICPs) and has worked with governments around the world on strategic trade control issues. Ms. Howe has specific regional expertise on strategic trade controls in North and South America.  She has presented at conferences and training programs in Asia and Latin America on ICPs and U.S. strategic trade controls. Formerly, Ms. Howe worked at the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security to promote international export control cooperation. She has her law degree from the George Washington University Law School. Ms. Howe joined the Center for Policy Research as a research fellow in 2011.

Mr. Jay P. Nash, Esq., Senior Fellow is a policy specialist on strategic trade controls and legal/regulatory development.  Mr. Nash has worked with national governments from every region of the world to provide guidance and support on establishing domestic export control systems, and developing compliance tools and resources for industry. Mr. Nash is a regular speaker and presenter at regional and international export control conferences, and he has published papers on East Asian trade control developments in the US, Japan, and Korea. Mr. Nash has particular regional expertise in working on strategic trade control-related issues in East Asia. He has lived and worked in Beijing, China and is proficient in Mandarin Chinese. Mr. Nash received his law degree from the University of Iowa College of Law and his Master of Arts in International Security Studies from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service. Mr. Nash joined the Center for Policy Research as a research fellow in 2010.

Dr. Togzhan Kassenova, Senior Fellow is an expert on nuclear politics, WMD nonproliferation, and financial crime prevention. She currently works on issues related to proliferation financing controls, exploring ways to minimize access of proliferators to the global financial system. She also conducts research on Brazil’s nuclear policy. Brazil possesses a full nuclear fuel cycle technology and is the only non-nuclear weapon state that is developing a nuclear-powered submarine. Kassenova, a native of Kazakhstan, is writing a comprehensive nuclear history of her country. The upcoming book covers forty years of Soviet nuclear testing and health and environmental damage they inflicted, and the pivotal decisions Kazakhstan took on the fate of more than a thousand Soviet nuclear weapons left on its territory after the Soviet collapse. Kassenova holds a Ph.D. in Politics from the University of Leeds and is a Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS).

Kassenova is a senior non-resident scholar at the Institute for International Science and Technology Policy and adjunct faculty at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University, as well as a non-resident fellow in the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. From 2011 to 2015 Kassenova served on the UN secretary general’s Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters.

Full CV: https://www.togzhankassenova.com/about/

Dr. Nolan Fahrenkopf, Fellow conducts research on a variety of missile, nuclear, and international security topics. Dr. Fahrenkopf is an expert in missile proliferation and production, and the role that scientific and technical human capital plays in the proliferation of conventional weapons and weapons of mass destruction. His dissertation explored the connection between security interests, scientific, technical, and organizational capital, and technological diffusion in the production of advanced missile systems. He has extensive policy and academic experience with weapons proliferation, strategic trade controls, controlling arms and military equipment transfers, and UN Security Council Resolution 1540 compliance. His work in this field has allowed him to lead seminars and conduct consultations with governments in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Sri Lanka, Serbia, Georgia, and other countries. Dr. Fahrenkopf has also provided recommendations to governments on trade regulations, customs controls, and border security in Eastern Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa, and East Asia.

Dr. Crystal Pryor, Senior Fellow is a policy specialist on strategic trade controls in Asia. She is also Director of Research at the Pacific Forum and an adjunct fellow with the East-West Center. Over the past decade, Dr. Pryor has engaged Asian governments, conducted research, and published on nonproliferation, with a focus on strategic trade control implementation. She has also developed research agendas on technology policy and Women, Peace and Security, in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Defense. She has also led several public engagement programs with Asian countries (Japan, Singapore, Indonesia) for the U.S. Department of State. She is fluent in Japanese and has previously published research on U.S.-Japan outer space security cooperation and Japan’s defense industry and arms exports. In 2016-2017, Dr. Pryor held a postdoctoral fellowship in the U.S.-Japan relations program at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University. Dr. Pryor received her doctorate in political science from the University of Washington, master’s degrees in political science from the University of Washington and the University of Tokyo, and bachelor’s degree in international relations with honors from Brown University.