“Breakthrough new ideas that bring hope to the dangers associated with nuclear weapons.”
Ward Hayes Wilson is one of the most original minds working on nuclear weapons policy today. His first scholarly article was published in the foremost security studies journal in the world — Harvard’s International Security. His next article won the 2008 McElvaney Prize for the best essay on nuclear disarmament.
His work has shaken the foundations of the nuclear weapons debate. He showed that atomic bombs did not force Japan to surrender, and has challenged both the origins and efficacy of nuclear deterrence. He is a powerful speaker who has spoken in 23 countries, at the Pentagon, the State Department, Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Princeton, Georgetown, the Naval War College, the Sorbonne, Kings College London, Nagasaki University and many others.
He wins debates. He bested Sir Lawrence Freedman in a Chatham House debate and turned a pre-debate majority in favor of nuclear weapons at the Cambridge Union into a three to one drubbing against.
His message reaches across ideological boundaries. It has appeared in anti-nuclear journals like The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists and Nonproliferation Review, military journals like Parameters, Joint Force Quarterly and Revue de Défense Nationale, foreign policy journals like Survival and Foreign Policy, as well as in the Chicago Tribune, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and others.
Using fundamental challenges to established nuclear weapons thinking, he has created an entirely new approach to avoiding the danger of nuclear war. He speaks in everyday language using clear examples and relatable analogies.
“Brilliant, original, and important.” — Richard Rhodes, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian
“The most innovative thinker about nuclear weapons anywhere.” “The leading voice for nuclear disarmament.” — Barry Blechman, co-founder of The Stimson Center
“The most intelligent, comprehensive, and compelling argument ever advanced against nuclear weapons.” — Gen. Lee Butler, U.S. Air Force (ret.), four stars. Former commander of Strategic Command, which controls U.S. nuclear weapons.
Everyone "knows" nuclear weapons are an intractable problem. But a new, breakthrough approach - that puts a passion for realism at its center - changes the game and shows that a different, safer future is possible. Click to read The Shadow and the Light: New Hope for Our Hardest Problem, by Ward Hayes Wilson, a Substack publication with hundreds of subscribers.
