Scott Douglas Sagan (born 1955) is the Caroline S.G. Munro Professor of
Political Science
Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...
at
Stanford University and co-director of Stanford's
Center for International Security and Cooperation
Stanford University has many centers and institutes dedicated to the study of various specific topics. These centers and institutes may be within a department, within a school but across departments, an independent laboratory, institute or center ...
(CISAC). He is known for his research on
nuclear weapons policy and
nuclear disarmament
Nuclear may refer to:
Physics
Relating to the nucleus of the atom:
*Nuclear engineering
*Nuclear physics
*Nuclear power
*Nuclear reactor
*Nuclear weapon
*Nuclear medicine
*Radiation therapy
*Nuclear warfare
Mathematics
* Nuclear space
* Nuclea ...
, including discussions of
system accidents, and has published widely on these subjects.
In 2017 Sagan received the
International Studies Association
The International Studies Association (ISA) is a US-based professional association for scholars and practitioners in the field of international studies. Founded in 1959, ISA has been headquartered at the University of Connecticut in Storrs sin ...
's
Susan Strange Award.
Sagan was the recipient of the National Academy of Sciences
William and Katherine Estes Award
The William and Katherine Estes Award, previously known as the NAS Award for Behavioral Research Relevant to the Prevention of Nuclear War is awarded by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences "to recognize basic research in any field of cognitive o ...
in 2015 and the International Studies Association's Distinguished Scholar Award in 2013.
He currently serves as the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...
' Chair of the Committee on International Security Studies and on the Academy's Council.
Biography
Sagan holds a B.A. in Government from
Oberlin College (1977) and a Ph.D. from
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
(1983). He spent the junior year of his undergraduate degree at the
University of Aberdeen
, mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom
, established =
, type = Public research universityAncient university
, endowment = £58.4 million (2021)
, budget ...
in Scotland. Before joining the Stanford faculty in 1987, Sagan was a lecturer in the Department of Government at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
and served as special assistant to the director of the Organization of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the Pentagon. He has served as a consultant to the office of the Secretary of Defense and at the
Sandia National Laboratories
Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), also known as Sandia, is one of three research and development laboratories of the United States Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). Headquartered in Kirtland Air Force Bas ...
and the
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Los Alamos National Laboratory (often shortened as Los Alamos and LANL) is one of the sixteen research and development laboratories of the United States Department of Energy (DOE), located a short distance northwest of Santa Fe, New Mexico, ...
.
Work
Sagan is known for his research on the organizations managing nuclear weapons and published on the subject in ''The Limits of Safety: Organizations, Accidents, and Nuclear Weapons'' (
Princeton University Press
Princeton University Press is an independent publisher with close connections to Princeton University. Its mission is to disseminate scholarship within academia and society at large.
The press was founded by Whitney Darrow, with the financia ...
, 1993).
Bruce G. Blair writes, "Scott Sagan's book
he Limits of Safetyis nothing less than a tour de force.... It is by far the most carefully researched and painstaking study of nuclear weapons safety ever written."
He also is one of the leading pessimist scholars about
nuclear proliferation, and his co-authored book with
Kenneth Waltz
Kenneth Neal Waltz (; June 8, 1924 – May 12, 2013) was an American political scientist who was a member of the faculty at both the University of California, Berkeley and Columbia University and one of the most prominent scholars in the field of ...
, ''The Spread of Nuclear Weapons: A Debate Renewed'', is widely read and cited in the literature on nuclear weapons. Sagan writes in the book, "the United States and the Soviet Union survived the
cold war and did not use their massive nuclear-weapons arsenals during the period's repeated crises. This should be a cause of celebration and wonder; it should not be an excuse for inaction with either
arms control or
non-proliferation
Nuclear proliferation is the spread of nuclear weapons, fissionable material, and weapons-applicable nuclear technology and information to nations not recognized as " Nuclear Weapon States" by the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Wea ...
policies."
His most recent publications include ''The Fragile Balance of Terror: Deterrence in the New Nuclear Age'', co-edited with
Vipin Narang (Cornell University Press, 2022); ''Insider Threats'', co-edited with Matthew Bunn (Cornell University Press, 2017); ''Learning from a Disaster: Improving Nuclear Safety and Security after Fukushima'', co-edited with Edward D. Blandford (Stanford University Press, 2016); and guest editor of a two-volume special issue of ''Daedalus, New Dilemmas in Ethics, Technology, and War'' (Fall 2016 and Winter 2017). Sagan is also the author of ''Moving Targets: Nuclear Strategy and National Security'' (Princeton University Press, 1989); and ''The Limits of Safety: Organizations, Accidents, and Nuclear Weapons'' (Princeton University Press, 1993). He is the co-editor of ''Planning the Unthinkable'' (Cornell University Press, 2000) with Peter R. Lavoy and James L. Wirtz; the editor of ''Inside Nuclear South Asia'' (
Stanford University Press, 2009); co-editor of a two-volume special issue of ''Daedalus, On the Global Nuclear Future'' (Fall 2009 and Winter 2010), with Steven E. Miller. Other publications include "The Case for No First Use" in ''
Survival
Survival, or the act of surviving, is the propensity of something to continue existing, particularly when this is done despite conditions that might kill or destroy it. The concept can be applied to humans and other living things (or, hypotheti ...
'' (June 2009); "A Call for Global Nuclear Disarmament" in ''
Nature
Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...
'' (July 2012); "Atomic Aversion: Experimental Evidence on Taboos, Traditions, and the Non-Use of Nuclear Weapons" with
Daryl G. Press and
Benjamin A. Valentino in ''
The American Political Science Review
The ''American Political Science Review'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering all areas of political science. It is an official journal of the American Political Science Association and is published on their behalf by Cambrid ...
'' (February 2013); and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences occasional paper, "A Worst Practices Guide to Insider Threats: Learning from Past Mistakes," (2014), with Matthew Bunn.
Awards
Scott Sagan was selected in 2018 by the
Carnegie Corporation
The Carnegie Corporation of New York is a philanthropic fund established by Andrew Carnegie in 1911 to support education programs across the United States, and later the world. Carnegie Corporation has endowed or otherwise helped to establis ...
as an Andrew Carnegie Fellow. In 2017, Scott Sagan received the
International Studies Association
The International Studies Association (ISA) is a US-based professional association for scholars and practitioners in the field of international studies. Founded in 1959, ISA has been headquartered at the University of Connecticut in Storrs sin ...
's
Susan Strange Award.
The award recognizes a person whose "singular intellect, assertiveness, and insight most challenge conventional wisdom and intellectual and organizational complacency" in the international studies community. Sagan was the recipient of the National Academy of Sciences William and Katherine Estes Award in 2015, for his pioneering work addressing the risks of nuclear weapons and the causes of nuclear proliferation. The award, which is granted triennially, recognizes "research in any field of cognitive or behavioral science that advances understanding of issues relating to the risk of nuclear war." In 2013, Sagan received the International Studies Association's International Security Studies Section Distinguished Scholar Award. Sagan has also won four teaching awards: the 2020
Phi Beta Kappa of Northern California Teaching Excellence Award; the Monterey Institute for International Studies' 2009 Outstanding Contribution to Nonproliferation Education Award; the International Studies Association's 2008 Deborah Misty Gerner Innovative Teaching Award; Stanford University's 1998-99 Dean's Award for Distinguished Teaching; and Stanford University's 1996 Laurance and Naomi Hoagland Prize for Undergraduate Teaching. He teaches a popular course with
Allen Weiner
Allen S. Weiner is an American academic who is a senior lecturer in international law at Stanford Law School.
Weiner is also the co-director of the Stanford Program in International and Comparative Law and the Stanford Center on International Con ...
called "The Face of Battle," in which students walk key battlefields from American history, performing individual historical roles in
staff rides and meeting with national security professionals.
See also
*
Nuclear Tipping Point
''Nuclear Tipping Point'' is a 2010 documentary film produced by the Nuclear Threat Initiative. It features interviews with four American government officials who were in office during the Cold War period, but are now advocating for the eliminatio ...
*
Nuclear weapons debate
The nuclear weapons debate refers to the controversies surrounding the threat, use and stockpiling of nuclear weapons. Even before the first nuclear weapons had been developed, scientists involved with the Manhattan Project were divided over the u ...
*
Sam Nunn
Samuel Augustus Nunn Jr. (born September 8, 1938) is an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Georgia (1972–1997) as a member of the Democratic Party.
After leaving Congress, Nunn co-founded the Nuclear Threat Initia ...
*
William Perry
*
Henry Kissinger
Henry Alfred Kissinger (; ; born Heinz Alfred Kissinger, May 27, 1923) is a German-born American politician, diplomat, and geopolitical consultant who served as United States Secretary of State and National Security Advisor under the presid ...
*
George P. Shultz
George Pratt Shultz (; December 13, 1920February 6, 2021) was an American economist, businessman, diplomat and statesman. He served in various positions under two different Republican presidents and is one of the only two persons to have held fou ...
References
External links
CISAC Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sagan, Scott
Living people
American political scientists
Nuclear weapons policy
Oberlin College alumni
Harvard University alumni
Alumni of the University of Aberdeen
Stanford University Department of Political Science faculty
Nuclear weapon safety
1955 births
American male writers
Sandia National Laboratories people