Working group 3: Data on Nuclear Rivalries, Negotiations, and Agreements

The purpose of Working Group 3 is to identify needs for and develop new data on issues related to disarmament and nuclear weapons. Working group 3 has built a database of arms control and disarmament agreements which offers a comprehensive overview of arms-control agreements since 1921. The first version of the database was released in June 2024 and include a rich set of online visualisation tools and search functions. A second and updated release is planned for June 2025, extending the set of agreements included and introducing new data formats.

Primary Research topics

Identify needs for new data and gaps in existing data on issues related to nuclear weapons, and then to develop new data to meet those needs and fill those gaps.
Develop a system for classifying and systematising disarmament agreements and the content of the agreements in great detail, so as to facilitate comparison, overview, and the identification of patterns and trends.
Make a complete set of data on nuclear disarmament available and easily accessible in a format that facilitates overview and comparisons.

Working Group Leader: Dr Magnus Öberg

Dr Magnus Öberg received his PhD in Peace and Conflict Research in 2003. Öberg is currently the Director of the Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP), and Senior Lecturer at the Department of Peace and Conflict Research, Uppsala University, where he served as Head of Department 2012-2017. Dr Magnus Öberg’s main research interests are the causes of war, escalation processes, the human impact of war and conflict data.

Working Group Members

Kyle Beardsley, Professor of Political Science, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences
Matthew C. Fuhrmann, Professor of Political Science, Texas A&M University
Scott Gates, Research Professor, Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO)
Siri Jansson, Research Assistant, Department of Peace and Conflict Research, Uppsala University
Rupal N. Mehta, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Margareta Sollenberg, Deputy Director UCDP, Department of Peace and Conflict Research, Uppsala University

AMC Data

Working Group 3 have built and manage the database AMC Data, which offers a comprehensive overview of arms-control agreements. The database has rich functionality including a data visualiser.

Publications

Jansson, Siri; Tereza Heiligová, Daike Möhrle, Robertas Skipitis, Magnus Öberg 2024. The Agreement Datasets Code Book & List of Variables. Uppsala: Alva Myrdal Center for Nuclear Disarmament, Uppsala University.
The AMC Data Arms control Agreements Datasets: The Agreement Dataset, The Weapons & Facilities Dataset, The Verified Compliance Mechanism Dataset, The Agreement Associations Dataset.

Outreach

2024

Magnus Öberg and Erik Melander participated in Almedalen 2024 with the lecture "Hur ser utvecklingen i omvärlden ut avseende krig och kärnvapenhot? Hur kan man tänka om framtiden?".

2023

Magnus Öberg and Erik Melander participated in Almedalen 2023 with the lecture "Krig och kärnvapenhot: omvärldsläget och framtidsutsikter". See video recording.
Magnus Öberg participated in the episode "From submarines to statistics" for the podcast Researching Peace.

Contact

For questions about the working group's research and activities:
Magnus Öberg