The Hon. Christopher A. Ford
New Paradigms Forum -- International Security Policy Since 2009
New Paradigms Forum
Statecraft, Strategy, Technology, and National Security
Insight from a Scholar-Diplomat
Insight from a Scholar-Diplomat
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Below is the text upon which Dr. Ford drew in making his informal remarks to a March 13, 2025, workshop as part of the “Future of Arms Control Project” sponsored by the Geneva Graduate Institute’s Centre on Conflict, Development & Peacebuilding (CCDP).
The National Institute for Public Policy (NIPP) published Dr. Ford's paper " Struggling with The Bomb: Competing Discourses in the Nuclear Disarmament Movement" in February 2025, as the second paper in Volume 5 of its Occasional Papers series. You can find Dr. Ford's paper on NIPP's website here , or use the button below to download a PDF.
Dr. Ford and Lord Nigel Biggar published their essay on " Rebutting Sino-Russian Political Discourse and Getting Rights Right" in the Winter 2025 issue of Defense & Strategic Studies Online (DASSO). You can find the DASSO homepage here , read the full second issue of DASSO here , access the Ford/Biggar essay online here , or use the button below to download a PDF of the essay.
Below is the text upon which Dr. Ford based his remarks to a conference at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory on February 20, 2025.
Below is the text upon which Dr. Ford based his remarks on February 18, 2025, to a Track 2 dialogue with Russia on Military Risk Reduction in Europe.
On February 6, 2025, the Center for Global Security Research at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory published a new edited volume on nuclear weapons challenges in the Middle East. Dr. Ford's paper "Snapping Back and Looking Forward: A New Old Approach to the Iran Nuclear Crisis" appears in that volume. You can find the whole book on CGSR's website here , or use the button below to download Dr. Ford's chapter.
Below is the prepared text upon which Dr. Ford drew in his panel discussion for an even sponsored by the New York State Bar Association on "Nuclear Weapons and International Law" on January 30, 2025.
Below is the text upon which Dr. Ford based his remarks to the workshop on “Enhancing Regional Security and Addressing WMD Threats in the Middle East,” held in Abu Dhabi, UAE, on January 23, 2023.
With 2024 hours from being over, here’s a handy compilation of my public work product from the last year. As you can see from the list of seven papers or articles and 20 presentations below, it’s been a big year for nuclear weapons policy and arms control topics – but as always there’s a good helping of strategic competition with China. Keep checking New Paradigms Forum for new material as we move into 2025. And Happy New Year, everyone!
Below is an edited and revised version of the remarks Dr. Ford prepared for a CSIS/PONI Workshop on “Irreversibility in Nuclear Disarmament” at Wilton Park, in the United Kingdom, on December 18, 2024.
ABOUT DR. FORD
Dr. Ford is Professor of International Relations and Strategic Studies at Missouri State University’s Graduate School of Defense and Strategic Studies and a Distinguished Visiting Fellow with the Pharos Foundation at Oxford. He is also the founder and Principal of Two Ravens Policy & Strategy LLC, which furthers national security missions by providing support to both U.S. Intelligence Community and Department of Defense customers. Dr. Ford is also a member of the Advisory Board of the American Foreign Policy Council, and also of the National Security Institute at George Mason University.
In 2021-24, Dr. Ford was a Visiting Fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, and from 2021-23 he served in various capacities at the MITRE Corporation, most recently as a MITRE Fellow and the founding Director of MITRE’s Center for Strategic Competition. He previously served as U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for International Security and Nonproliferation (2018-2021), for 15 months also exercising the authorities of the Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security, and before that as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for WMD and Counterproliferation at the U.S. National Security Council (2017). A Rhodes Scholar with degrees from Harvard, Oxford, and Yale, he has also been U.S. Special Representative for Nuclear Nonproliferation, a Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, a staffer on five different U.S. Senate committees, a think tank scholar, and a U.S. Navy intelligence officer.