Working at the intersection of nuclear security, armed conflict, and policy, Ali Alkis is a nuclear security professional from Türkiye and a Junior Associate Fellow at the NATO Defense College. He is pursuing a PhD in Political Science at Hacettepe University in Ankara and is an Emerging Nuclear Security Leader with the Nuclear Threat Initiative. He also contributes to Harvard University’s Ukraine Nuclear Security Working Group. His work focuses on nuclear security and nonproliferation. Since 2023, he has developed the concept of “nuclear piracy” to describe the coercive appropriation and instrumentalisation of civilian nuclear facilities by state actors during armed conflict, and to highlight gaps in existing nuclear security and governance frameworks. In August 2026, he received the Institute of Nuclear Materials Management Early Award in recognition of his contributions to nuclear security research and policy.
