The Delicate Balance of Error: Perceived Counterforce Feasibility and the Nuclear Taboo

Description:

International Security Studies co-presents a conversation on the perceived taboo against the use of nuclear weapons with political scientist David M. Allison, currently a Stanton Nuclear Security Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School.

Using a series of survey experiments, Allison shows that the behavior of nuclear taboo believers is malleable and that most are responsive to changes in the effectiveness of nuclear use or persuasive moral arguments.

Allison is a political scientist with a focus on strategic stability, nuclear politics, and military power. He is a member of the Mid-Career Cadre at the Project on Nuclear Issues, Center for Strategic and International Studies. Earlier, he served as an officer in the United States Army, deploying to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. He holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in Political Science from Yale University and a B.A. with highest honors in Political Science from Columbia University.

The event is a partnership between the ISS and the MacMillan International Relations Seminar. All interested members of the Yale community are welcome.