Department of International Relations, Faculty of International Relations, Political Science and Sociology, Odessa I. I. Mechnikov National University, 2, Dvoryanska, Odesa, Ukraine, 65082

Telephone (+380 482) 63 32 59; Fax (+380 482) 68 72 84

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ORCID ID: Polina Sinovets
Google Scholar: Polina Sinovets

Main Courses: 1). Nuclear Factor in International Security Architecture; 2) Diplomatic and Consulate Service of Ukraine; 3) Actual Problems of the World Politics. 4) Military-political aspects of international security.

Since 2015 – Head of Odessa Center for Nonproliferation (OdCNP), Odessa I. I. Mechnikov National University.

Since 2004 – Associate Professor, Department of International Relations, Institute of Social Sciences, Odessa I. I. Mechnikov National University. 

2004 - PhD in Political Sciences (specialty 23.00.04 – “Political Problems of International Systems and Global Development”), Institute of World Economy and International Relations, Kyiv, Ukraine. Title of Thesis: “Nuclear Deterrence in the Policies of the USA and Russia in the Post-Bipolar Period”.

2003 - 2012 - Senior Research Fellow, Odessa Regional Branch of National Institute for Strategic Studies under President of Ukraine.

2000 - 2004 - Research Fellow, Center for International Studies, Odessa I. I. Mechnikov National University.

2000 – MA in International Relations with deep knowledge of the Arabic and English languages, Odessa I. I. Mechnikov National University. 

Mother tongues: Russian, Ukrainian. Other languages: English (fluent), Arabic and Italian (elementary).

Membership in associations: PONARS Eurasia (New Approaches to Research and Security in Eurasia, since 2001); Women in International Security (WIIS, 2000). International Nuclear Security Education Network (INSEN, 2014).

List of main publications

2021-2026

• Sinovets P. (2026) Nuclear deterrence: US-Russia-NATO in the New Reality, The Trump Effect: The Future of US-Europe Relations, H-Diplo Policy Series, 13 July 2026, https://issforum.org/essays/PDF/PS1.pdf
• Sinovets P., Vicente A. Securing Ukraine after the War: Nuclear Deterrence and Four Models of Security Guarantees, IAI Papers, N.26/09(June2026), https://www.iai.it/sites/default/files/iaip2609.pdf
• Sinovets, P. (2026). At the brink: How Moscow’s “dirty bomb” disinformation campaign risked a NATO-Russia war in October 2022. Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 82(2), 78–84. https://doi.org/10.1080/00963402.2026.2628487
• Sinovets P. & Alkış A.M. (06 Nov 2025): Deterrence, Compellence, or Credibility Fatigue? Russian Nuclear Threats in the War on Ukraine, Journal for Peace and Nuclear Disarmament, DOI: 10.1080/25751654.2025.2586386
• Sinovets P. Thinking of Unthinkable: The Consequences of Trump’s Decision to Renew Nuclear Tests, IAI, December 2025, 7 p. IAI Commentaries 24/77, https://www.iai.it/it/pubblicazioni/c05/one-ring-and-how-destroy-it
• Pifer S., Sinovets P., Moser R.E., Bujeryn M. The Disintegration of the USSR and the Fate of the Soviet Nuclear Arsenal, Journal of Cold War Studies. 2025. Vol.27. P.129-148.
• Sinovets P., Vicente A., Europe’s Nuclear Alternatives: a Time for Reckoning, IAI Papers, 25/13, June 2025, https://www.iai.it/sites/default/files/iaip2513.pdf
• Sinovets P., Vicente A., How to Deter Russia: More (Nuclear) May Be Better? Roma, IAI, March 2025, IAI Commentaries 25|17, https://www.iai.it/sites/default/files/iaicom2517.pdf
• Sinovets P., One Ring and how to destroy it? Roma, IAI, December 2024, 7 p. IAI Commentaries24|77, https://www.iai.it/it/pubblicazioni/c05/one-ring-and-how-destroy-it
• Sinovets P., Vicente A., The day after the impact of Russia’s invasion on Ukrainian political elites and public attitudes toward nuclear weapons. The Nonproliferation Review, 2023, Vol.30.– p.197-219, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10736700.2024.243666 (published online 24 Dec.2024).
• Sinovets P., US-Germany Missile Agreement: deterrence or escalation? Roma, IAI, November 2024, 6 p.- IAI Commentaries 24|69, https://www.iai.it/it/pubblicazioni/c05/us-germany-missile-agreement-deterrence-or-escalation
• Sinovets P., Shultz D. Russia’s Nuclear Propaganda: From the Cold War to Ukraine, The Journal of Slavic Military Studies, 2023. 36:4, 340-360, DOI: 10.1080/13518046.2023.229758;
• Sinovets P., Vicente A. Nuclear Spring is Coming: Examining French Nuclear Deterrence in Response to Russia’s Actions in Ukraine. Note de la FRS No.8, 2024, https://www.frstrategie.org/en/publications/notes/nuclear-spring-coming-examining-french-nuclear-deterrence-response-russia-s-actions-ukraine-2024;
• Sinovets P., Vicente A. Are Nuclear Weapons ineffective in deterring non-nuclear weapon states? The paradox of Russia’s war on Ukraine// Note de la FRS N47, 2022 https://www.frstrategie.org/en/publications/notes/are-nuclear-weapons-ineffective-deterring-non-nuclear-weapon-states-paradox-russia-s-war-ukraine-2022; 
• Sinovets P., Fifty Shades of Red: where does Russia draw the line? //NDC Outlook 03/2023, https://www.ndc.nato.int/news/news.php?icode=1897;
• Sinovets P., Maksymenko I., Nuclear Deterrence in Russia’s War on Ukraine: The Credibility Dilemma // Russia’s War on Ukraine. The Implications for the Global Nuclear Order// Ed. By Aderito Vicente, Polina Sinovets, Julien Theron. Springer Nature Switzerland, AG 2023– P.141-152.
• Sinovets P., Nuclear posturing in Russia’s war with Ukraine: “offensive deterrence” in progress // War Changes Everything. Russia After Ukraine // Ed. By Marc Ozawa, NDC Research Paper, No.28, February 2023, https://www.ndc.nato.int/research/research.php?icode=6
• Sinovets P., Hesse V. Russian Foreign and Security Policy: The Evolution of the Escalation Strategy//Arms Control and Europe. New Challenges and Prospects for Strategic Stability/Ed. By Sinovets and W. Alberque.- Springer Nature Switzerland AG, 2022. – P. 21-28.
• Sinovets P., Hesse V. Strategic Risk Reduction in the Black Sea Region//Arms Control and Europe. New Challenges and Prospects for Strategic Stability/Ed. By P. Sinovets and W. Alberque.- Springer Nature Switzerland AG, 2022. – P. 141-150.
• Sinovets P., Gergiieva V., Zavada Y. Iranian Nuclear Program and Its Impact on the European Security System//Arms Control and Europe. New Challenges and Prospects for Strategic Stability/Ed. By P. Sinovets and W. Alberque.- Springer Nature Switzerland AG, 2022. – P. 163-172.
• Sinovets P. The growing role of the nuclear factor in interstate politics: The case of Russia’s war against Ukraine// EUNPD Consortium Working Paper, 2022. http://odcnp.com.ua/images/pdf/Sinovets_Nuclear_Factor_in_Interstate_Politics.pdf;
• Ukraine’s Nuclear History: A Non-Proliferation Prospective / Ed. By P. Sinovets. –Springer Nature Switzerland AG, 2022.
• Sinovets P., Maksymenko I., Skrypnyk M. The Russian roulette: the Kremlin’s escalation strategy in the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea //Lithuanian Annual Strategic Review, 15 June, 2022, https://journals.lka.lt/journal/lasr/article/1919/info;
• Sinovets P. "Between the Rock and the Hard Place: Will the Black Sea Avoid the Escalation Ladder?" In: Oleksii Polegkyi and Tomasz Stepniowski (eds.) Security dilemma in the Black Sea region in the light of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, IES Policy Papers, Institute of Central Europe, Lublin, 2021. –P.57-72. https://ies.lublin.pl/ies-policy-papers/security

Others

• Феномен постправди в ядерній політиці РФ/Міжнародні відносини в епоху постправди. – К.: «Вадекс», 2018.
• Woman and Weapons. Redressing the Gender Gap. A Ukrainian Response // The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. - 2014. - Vol. 70. – N 5. - P. 20-23.
• Transformation of the US strategic military doctrine in the beginning of XXI century: the problem of deterrence // Strategic Panorama. -2004. – N 2. - P. 52-56 (in Ukrainian).
• Transformation of the US nuclear strategy: theory and practice // Strategic Priorities. – 2009. - № 2(11). - P.17-22.
• The Wedding Rings of Europe: Some Military Aspects of Euro-Atlantic Integration / De cadencias y disonancias, representaciones alternativas de la integración regional en el siglo XXI : América Latina, Asia y Europa del Este / adaptado por Nicolás Matías Comini; compilado por Tomás Andrés Bontempo. - 1a ed. - Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires: Universidad del Salvador, 2014. – P. 241-267. 
• The US-India Nuclear Deal and the Stability Perspectives in South Asia // Strategic Panorama. - 2009. – N 2. - P.96-102 (in Ukrainian). 
• The Role of Nuclear Weapons in Russia’s Worldview: Policy Implications // Norwegian Institute for Safety and Security. Occasional Paper Series. - N 1. - 2015. – 12 p. 
• The New Architecture of the European BMD system in the US Plans: Global Strategic Consequences and Meaning for Ukraine. Analytical Paper. – Odesa: Fenix, 2011. - 38 p. (in Ukrainian).
• The International Clandestine around Iranian nuclear Program // Middle East: International Security, Regional Relations and Perspectives for Ukraine: Monograph / National Security and Defense Council, National Institute of International Security; Ed. B. Parahonskiy. - К.: Foliant, 2008. - P. 320-327 (in Ukrainian).
• Strategic Stability in the framework of minimal nuclear deterrence: disarmament prospective // Odessa National University Herald. – 2012. - № 22(174). – P.181-195 (in Ukrainian).
• Sinovets P., Maksymenko I. The Baltic–Black Sea Region in Great Powers’ Relations: The Hard Power Aspect/Baltic-Black Sea Regionalisms/ Ed. By O. Bogdanova and A. Makarychev. – Springer Nature Swizerland, AG 2020.- P.75-86. 
• Sinovets P., Izhak O.Ukraine’s Position on the INF Treaty suspension/ Responses to the INF Treaty crisis: the European dimension. The European INF Initiative Project Meeting, May, 2019, Odessa, Ukraine/ Edited by P. Sinovets.- Odessa: I. I. Mechnikov National University, 2019.- P.45-50. 
• Sinovets P., Gergiieva V. The EU and the Iranian Nuclear Programme: is Venus Weaker than Mars? UA: Ukraine Analytica, Issue 4 (18), 2019.-P.14-20.
• Sinovets P. The Russian Black Sea fleet: is there a place for strategic dimension? / Black Sea Region in World Policy: Actors, Factors, and Scenarios of the Future/ Ed. By O. Brusylovska, I.M. Koval, V.I. Dubovyk. . – Odesa: Odessa Mechnikov National University Press, 2020.
• Sinovets P. Escalation for de-escalation? Hazy Nuclear Weapon “Red Lines” Generate Russian Advantages – 08.2019 - http://www.ponarseurasia.org/memo/escalation-de-escalation-hazy-nuclear-weapon-red-lines-generate-russian-advantages;
• Sinovets P. The EU states position as for the termination of the INF Treaty/Perspectives of the EU policy development: global and regional dimensions/Ed. By O. Brusylovska, I.M. Koval. – Odesa, 2019.
• Russia 2015 Military Doctrine and Beyond: threats perceptions, capabilities and ambitions // NATO Research Paper. – NATO Defense College, Rome. – N 117. - July 2015. - 12 p. (with B. Renz).
• Prospects for US-Russia Arms Control and Strategic Stability PONARS Eurasia Website. – 08.2018, http://www.ponarseurasia.org/memo/prospects-us-russian-arms-control-and-strategic-stability ; 
• Pakistan`s Nuclear Arsenal and Nuclear Deterrence Stability in South Asia // NaukoviyVisnyk. – 2008. - № 13(69). - P.167-177.
• Nuclear Deterrence in the American political thought in the post-bipolar period // International Relations and State’s Politics in the conditions of the global transformations: analysis of the political thought /Ed. by I. Koval, O. Brusylovska. – Odesa: Odesa I. I. Mechnikov National University, 2016. – P. 267-282. (in Ukrainian). 
• Mini-nukes in the Framework of the US modern Policy: deterrence problem // Middle East: International Security, Regional Relations and Perspectives for Ukraine: Monograph / National Security and Defense Council, National Institute of International Security; Ed. B. Parahonskiy. - К.: Foliant, 2008. - P. 141-156 (in Ukrainian).
• Israeli policy of “nuclear ambiguity": evaluations and perspectives // Strategic Priorities. – 2008.- № 1(6). - P.190-198 (in Ukrainian).
• Interpreting the Bomb: Ownership and Deterrence in Ukraine’s Political Discourse//Nuclear Proliferation International History Project, Wilson center, December 13, 2017, https://www.wilsoncenter.org/publication/interpreting-the-bomb-ownership-and-deterrence-ukraines-nuclear-discourse(with M. Bujeryn);
• From Stalin to Putin: Russian Strategic Culture in XXI Century, its Continuity and Change // Philosophy Study. - July 2016. - Vol.6, N 7. 
• Europe’s nuclear woes: Mitigating the challenges of the next years // The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. – 2017: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00963402.2017 (with U. Kuhn, S. Shetty).
• Enemy at the Gates: Current International Security Challenges and the Nonproliferation Architecture//Вісник ОНУ. Соціологія та політичні науки.- 2018.-Т.23. В.2(31).- С.35-52. (Index Copernicus)
• Double Faced Yanus or Nuclear Deterrence Theory in the XXI century: Monograph.-Odessa: Fenix, 2008. – 220 p. (in Russian).
• Deterrence and the Nuclear Superpowers after the Cold War. - Saarbruken: LAP Lambert Academic Publishing, 2010. - 83 p.
• Denuclearization Again? Lessons from Ukraine’s Decision to Disarm//War on The Rocks, April 19, 2018, https://warontherocks.com/2018/04/denuclearization-again-lessons-from-ukraines-decision-to-disarm/(with M. Bujeryn); 
• Ban the bomb by... banning the bomb? A Ukrainian Response // The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. – 2017. - Vol. 73, N 3. - P. 197-198.
• “Strategic Culture of Ukraine as the Research Instrument of the Ukrainian Foreign Policy”. In Strategic Culture and Foreign Policy of Ukraine, edited by І. Koval, О. Brusylovska, V. Dubovyk, 7-19. Odesa: Odesa Mechnikov National University Press, 2017. (with Olga Brusylovska).
• “Strategic Culture of Ukraine and its Non-Nuclear Status”. In Strategic Culture and Foreign Policy of Ukraine, ed. by I. Koval, O. Brusylovska, and V. Dubovyk, 20-32. Odesa: Odessa I. I. Mechnikov National University, 2017.

Selected International conferences, seminars, schools

The 11th International Symposium “The 21th Century State & Security Challenges” (Annapolis, MD, 2001). International Seminar “Nonproliferation and Weapons of Mass Destruction” (Moscow, 2005); CNS Visiting Fellow, Center for Nonproliferation Studies, Monterey Institute for International Studies, (Monterey, 2006); Organizer and lecturer, International Student Summer School on Nuclear Disarmament and Nonproliferation (Odessa, 2009-2011; 2013-2017). INMM Annual Symposium (Palm-Desert, 2011, 2013). PONARS Eurasia Policy Conference (Washington, 2011-2013; 2015-2017). “The Study of the US Institute on National Security Policymaking”, the US Department of State’s Bureau of Cultural and Educational Affairs (Amherst-Washington, 2012). CTBTO Intensive Policy Course “Multilateral Verification: Collective Security: The Contribution of the CTBT” (Vienna, 2012). Professional Development Course on Nuclear Security Education, King’s College of London (London, 2012); EU Nonproliferation Consortium (Brussels, 2014). NATO Defense College Fellowship (Rome, 2015). Nuclear Booth Camp ( Allumiere, 2015). N.EX.T. Nuclear Expert Talks “The Crisis of Nuclear Disarmament and Arms Control” (Berlin, 2016). Tbilisi International Nuclear Non-proliferation Research Workshop “The Black Sea Region and the Global Nuclear Order” (Tbilisi, 2017). “Russia’s nuclear arsenal: myths, real threats and counteraction” (Kyiv, 2017). Fulbright scholar, James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (Washington, 2017/18). PONARS Workshop: “The New U.S. and Russian Nuclear Doctrines and Prospects for Averting Destabilization”, Washington DC, the United States ( May 10th, 2018). International workshop «International Security Agenda 2018: Deterrence, Arms Control and Nonproliferation” (Odessa, July 27-28, 2018).Workshop «Conducting Historical Analysis of States’ Nuclear Activities: Internal vs. External Dimensions” (Odessa, October 10-11, 2018). EU Nonproliferation and Disarmament Conference (Brussels, December 18-19, 20180. Carnegie Nuclear Policy Conference 2019, (Washington DC, March 12-14 2019). Responses to the INF Treaty crisis: the European dimension. The European INF Initiative Project Meeting (May, 2019, Odessa, Ukraine). Workshop “Managing the collapse of the INF Treaty” ( Berlin, June, 24, 2019). Annual Conference PONARS Eurasia, Washington DC,USA ( September 12-14, 2019). Nonproliferation and Disarmament Education Workshop, SIPRI, Stockholm, Sweden (September 23-14, 2019). Conference “End of the Cold War and its impact on Nuclear Proliferation” (January 20-21, 2020, Johannesburg). Conference “Nuclear and Military Affairs in US-Russian Relations” PONARS Eurasia, Washington DC,USA ( October 17, 2020). Conference of Stockholm Royal Institute “Strategies, deterrence and resilience”, November 21-22, 2025, Stockholm, Sweden. Accelerator Symposium Stanley Center, October 22-25, Vienna, Austria. 21st Castiglioncello International Conference Conflicts, New Arms Races, and Nuclear Risks - 80 years from Hiroshima and Nagasaki. October 10-12, 2025 - Castello Pasquini, Castiglioncello, Italy. ХV Odesa International summer school «The new international order after the war against Ukraine: nuclear deterrence, arms control, and nonproliferation», OdCNP ONU, 11-15 August 2025. 2025 Armament and Disarmament Summer School» 25-29 of August 2025, Stockholm, Sweden. International AMC Conference “Paths to Disarmament in Times of Nuclear Threat. 12-13 June 2025, Uppsalla, Sweden.1-3 June, 2026 Loccum Conference “How Europe Should Respons to nuclear Threats?”, Loccum, Germany. 9-10 November 2026 – EUNPDC Annual Conference, Brussels, Belgium.

Fellowships: 2015/2023 – NATO Defense College, Rome. 2022 – Foundation pour la recherche Stratégique, Paris, France. 2025 – Istituto Affari Internazionali, Rome, Italy.