Graham Allison

Director, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School

Graham Allison is Director of Harvard's Center for Science and International Affairs and a leading analyst of U.S. national security and defense policy, with a special interest in nuclear weapons, terrorism, and decision-making. As Assistant Secretary of Defense in the first Clinton Administration, Dr. Allison received the Defense Department's highest civilian award, the Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service, for "reshaping relations with Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan to reduce the former Soviet nuclear arsenal." This resulted in the safe return of more than 12,000 tactical nuclear weapons from the former Soviet republics and the complete elimination of more than 4,000 strategic nuclear warheads previously targeted at the United States. Dr. Allison also served as Special Advisor to the Secretary of Defense under President Reagan.

Dr. Allison’s most recent book, "Nuclear Terrorism: The Ultimate Preventable Catastrophe" is now in its third printing and was selected by the New York Times as one of the "100 most notable books of 2004."

All Videos

The Nuclear Threat to Our Cities

The likelihood of a doomsday war has declined since the Soviet Union fell, but the chances of a nuclear attack on a major city have risen dramatically. How can we […]

▸

7 min

—

with

Graham Allison