Nicholas Wheeler

CSSPR is hosting a roundtable entitled "Trust, Risk, and Nuclear Responsibility: Managing Crises in South Asia." @WheelerICCS , @MhairiMcC ,@Rabs_AA

I'm giving a public lecture on Winston Churchill's "Sinews of Peace" speech at @MileEndInst on Thursday 5th March, the eightieth anniversary. Even better, @sophgaston will give the reply. More than an oratorical landmark, the speech is also about our fears now. Come!

📚 Hoping to finish Ken Booth & Nicholas J. Wheeler’s The Security Dilemma: Fear, Cooperation and Trust in World Politics — one of the most intellectually dense reads on global security I’ve encountered. Every sentence demands reflection and rewards it with insight. In Chapter 10 on the 21st‑century security dilemma, they revisit John F. Kennan’s warning from 45 years ago that the world faces two profound common threats: the risk of nuclear or major war and the devastating effects of industrialisation and overpopulation on our planet. If Kennan were writing today, what third existential threat would he add — climate catastrophe, AI, cyber conflict? 🤔 We still circle the same dilemmas thinking they’re unique to our times — perhaps the real issue isn’t just the threats themselves, but our failure to answer them meaningfully. Reminds me of the student who said his exam “had good questions” — meaning he had no answers. As we close 2025, who really has the answers to the very threats identified nearly half a century ago? With respect to the authors: @KobBooth @WheelerICCS

It is always a pleasure meeting, interacting, and working with @WheelerICCS .At our Dialogue here in Manama, he has yet again brought in academic nuance to the discourse around nuclear crises.

With BASIC 's superb team, who pulled off an enriching Dialogue in a seamless manner. Thank you! A big shoutout to @Rabs_AA and @CSSPR_UOL 's longstanding partnership with @BASIC_int 's Nuclear Responsibilities Programme.

In a few hours time, the last remaining nuclear arms pact between the U.S. and Russia will expire. A nuclear risks expert tells @DominicWaghorn that "we should be worried" that there are no agreed constraints on U.S. and Russian arsenals. trib.al/zff6Z7W 📺 Sky 501

BASIC Senior Non-Resident Professor Nicholas Wheeler (@WheelerICCS) quoted in the @theipaper on Iran: buff.ly/ppV3C8n

In the latest Emerging Voices Network Masterclass, Policy Fellow Dr Lyndon Burford discussed the new research project he leads – the Nuclear Transparency Inventory (NUTRI). You can watch the full Masteclass on our YouTube channel: buff.ly/reNLPMU

Our Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Programme Manager, Manuel Francisco Herrera Almela (@HerreraAlmela), recently co-published an article on the strategic limitations to Iran and Russia's partnership. Read it on the @IAIonline's website here: buff.ly/ybuNK9u

As part of @BASIC_int's series on the Indo-Pak crisis, I examine how India's post-Sindoor signaling has contributed to eroding restraint in South Asia. Grateful to @WheelerICCS and @CervasioChiara for their thoughtful comments all along. basicint.org/indias-post-ma…

Playwright and Actor Michael Mears discusses his play, The Mistake - about the atomic bombing of Hiroshima - in a wide ranging interview with BASIC: basicint.org/playwright-and…

Always such a pleasure meeting Dr. Chiara Cervasio @CervasioChiara 🙌 At the @EU_NonProlif conference in Brussels, she chaired our session on India-Pakistan strategic stability. Her moderation was marked by authority, depth of understanding, and the rare ability to bring clarity to complexity. Chiara’s scholarship on nuclear responsibilities and South Asian strategic thought continues to bridge the gap between normative frameworks and real-world deterrence dilemmas, a voice of intellect and empathy in a field that often prizes rigidity over reflection. Grateful that Center for Security, Strategy and Policy Research (@CSSPR_UOL) partnered with @BASIC_int on the nuclear responsibilities project and has undertaken some meaningful work in the past four years.

🚨EVENT ALERT!!🚨 @CSDR_India is delighted to bring to you a roundtable discussion on the report "Emerging and Disruptive Technologies in South Asia: Perceptions of Risks and Responsibilities in Crisis Management and Prevention" by @BASIC_int 📢Join our experts for this timely discussion 🗓️29th Oct 2025 🕒3:00- 4:30 PM 🔗Register now to receive an invite: tinyurl.com/yft6aaj2 📑Read the report here: basicint.org/report-emergin… @rakeshnms @CervasioChiara @WheelerICCS @BashirAliAbbas @HappymonJacob @ltgen

We had a great "problem-solving" session yesterday, talking through several challenges that members are facing with their research on trust (and related concepts), from analyzing interviews to developing grant applications. Great to have a supportive community of researchers!

Guess which global leader recently said, “…none of us can fully foresee the future. However, that does not absolve us of the responsibility to be prepared for it…” This 💭 crosses an mind wearing a crown & lies at the heart of the debate over security dilemma @WheelerICCS

The latest issue of International Relations is out! An exciting line up starting with Prof Kimberly Hutching's E H Carr lecture; this series of articles seeks to de-colonise, globalise and broaden #IR perspectives and topics ➡️➡️➡️journals.sagepub.com/toc/ireb/39/3

Deepening BASIC's interest in the critical nuclear-space nexus, Policy Intern @ChingWeiSooi and co-organiser Nicolas Ayala Arboleda will soon be moderating a series of webinars on the Golden Dome - America's new space-based missile defence initiative. lnkd.in/eZsmMgVc

My book is being launched on 14 October in Oxford, All Soul's College, at 1:30pm. How to Survive a Hostile World: Power, Politics and the Case for Realism. A world class panel of Jeanne Morefield, Susan Martin, @blagden_david @SeanMolloyIR All Welcome! ccw.ox.ac.uk/events/2025/po…

My latest for @BelferCenter Islamabad is not offering Riyadh a covert “nuclear button,” and Riyadh is not signing up to fight in Kashmir. Defense cooperation ≠ automatic war pledge, and signaling ≠ nuclear guarantee. belfercenter.org/research-analy…

#ComingSoon #StrategicReckoning I am truly excited to bring forth this important edited volume at a critical juncture for South Asia. "Strategic Reckoning: Perspectives on Deterrence and Escalation Post-Pahalgam – May 2025" is the collective outcome of some of Pakistan’s most distinguished voices, written in the shadow of one of the most dangerous crises our region has faced in decades. The May 2025 crisis revealed how fragile deterrence has become, how quickly escalation can compress time, and how easily catastrophe could have followed. Yet, amid the noise of aggression, Pakistan chose restraint. Calibrated responses, deliberate limits, and a refusal to mirror recklessness prevented the region from sliding further into chaos. That choice, of responsibility over bravado, is at the core of this volume. In this book, Lt Gen (Retd) Khalid Kidwai (Preface), Amb. Masood Khan, Lt Gen (Retd) Aamer Riaz, Air Cdre Khalid Banuri, Rear Adm. Syed Faisal Ali Shah, Dr. Atia Ali Kazmi, Dr. Naeem Salik, Amb. Zamir Akram, Dr. Adil Sultan, Dr. Zafar Nawaz Jaspal, Dr. Zahir Kazmi, Ejaz Haider, Dr. Rizwana Abbasi, Amb. Jauhar Saleem, Dr. Salma Malik, Dr. Rizwan Zeb, Dr. Sharreh Qazi, Malik Qasim Mustafa, and Syed Ali Zia Jaffery join me in reflecting on what those 87 hours revealed and what they mean for the decade ahead. This is not just a record of crisis, but a reminder of what must never be normalized. It is a call for deterrence rooted in stability rather than spectacle, and for restraint to be recognized as the highest form of strength, not mistaken for weakness. This is our collective reckoning and our stand against normalizing the abnormal. 📘 Book launch jointly hosted by @CSSPR_UOL & @IRSIslamabad on September 16, 2025. Watch this space for more details.