Former Prof Gives IOP Talk

Former Kennedy School of Goverment (KSG) Professor Thomas C. Schelling discussed the history and present situation of nuclear proliferation at the John F. Kennedy, Jr. Forum last night.

Schelling, who is a Nobel laureate in economics, traced the history of nuclear proliferation since the end of World War II.

“The non-proliferation of nuclear weapons has been vastly more successful in the past 40 years or more than anyone could have possibly expected,” he said.

Schelling, who is the Littauer professor of political economy, emeritus, also discussed five wars since World War II in which the U.S., Soviet, U.K., and Israeli governments withheld the use of nuclear weapons despite danger that they would ultimately lose.

Moving on to the current situation of nuclear proliferation, Schelling said that he believes both North Korea and Iran have the capability to develop nuclear weapons, and said he hopes these two countries will “think ahead of time of some of the responsibilities that come with possessing nuclear weapons.”

“I mainly want Iran and North Korea to believe that nuclear weapons are probably good for deterrents but not very good for fighting a battle,” he added.

Before his lecture, Schelling said in an interview that he thought the Bush administration should be more appreciative of “the need to keep the taboo on nuclear weapons that has existed for 60 years” rather than creating the appearance that use of nuclear weapons is a possibility.

He also said he considers it unlikely that terrorist organizations like Al Qaeda will obtain nuclear weapons.

“If they do...I would expect that they will try to use them for influence rather than to destroy,” he added.

Dillon Professor of Government Graham T. Allison ’62, who is also a former KSG dean and the director of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, took a class with Schelling as an undergraduate while at Harvard. He called Schelling’s presentation “brilliant and provocative.”

Audience member Fiona S. Cunningham ’09 said she enjoyed the lecture and that Schelling was “very objective without being dispassionate.”