{{Short description|American nuclear disarmament researcher}} '''Ward Hayes Wilson''' (born April 26, 1956) is an American researcher who is the executive director of RealistRevolt, a grassroots advocacy organization in the Chicago area. He lives and works in Glenview, Illinois.
== Career == Ward Hayes Wilson is a writer at “the forefront” of debates about the value and utility of nuclear weapons and nuclear deterrence.<ref>Tertrais, Bruno, “Four Straw Men of the Apocalypse,” Survival, 2013.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2014-01-20 |title=The nuclear deterrence works fantasy |url=https://dailytimes.com.pk/106162/the-nuclear-deterrence-works-fantasy/ |access-date=2024-07-05 |website=Daily Times |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>Mitra, Debasish. "Bombing Hiroshima, Nagasaki was a crime". Times of Oman. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 11 July 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140714223326/</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=The deterrent that wasn't - The Boston Globe |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/ideas/2011/08/15/the-deterrent-that-wasn/ye2XDdXK3qOcYmcQz9EDfJ/story.html |access-date=2024-06-13 |website=BostonGlobe.com |language=en-US}}</ref> He has been a senior fellow at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, BASIC (the British American Security Information Council), and the Federation of American Scientists.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ward Wilson |url=https://europeanleadershipnetwork.org/person/ward-wilson/ |access-date=2024-11-05 |website=europeanleadershipnetwork.org |language=en-GB}}</ref>
Wilson is best known for his argument that the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki did not force Japan's surrender at the end of World War II.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2012-08-16 |title=The Winning Weapon? Rethinking Nuclear Weapons in Light of Hiroshima - Harvard - Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs |url=http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/publication/855/winning_weapon_rethinking_nuclear_weapons_in_light_of_hiroshima.html |access-date=2024-07-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120816232147/http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/publication/855/winning_weapon_rethinking_nuclear_weapons_in_light_of_hiroshima.html |archive-date=2012-08-16 }}</ref> Winner of the $10,000 Doreen and Jim McElvany Nonproliferation Challenge in 2008,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2014-02-05 |title=Doreen and Jim McElvany Nonproliferation Challenge {{!}} The Nonproliferation Review (NPR) {{!}} James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) |url=http://cns.miis.edu/npr/challenge.htm |access-date=2024-07-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140205060454/http://cns.miis.edu/npr/challenge.htm |archive-date=2014-02-05 }}</ref> Wilson uses realist arguments to challenge existing ideas about nuclear weapons. His arguments have appeared in anti-nuclear journals ''he Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists''<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ward Hayes Wilson |url=https://thebulletin.org/biography/ward-hayes-wilson/ |access-date=2024-07-05 |website=Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists |language=en-US}}</ref> and ''Nonproliferation Review'',<ref>Ward Hayes Wilson. The Myth of Nuclear Deterrence, James Martin Center, 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20200407040340/https://www.nonproliferation.org/wp-content/uploads/npr/153_wilson.pdf</ref> in military journals ''Joint Force Quarterly'' <ref>Ward Hayes Wilson, "Military Wisdom and Nuclear Weapons” Joint Force Quarterly https://ndupress.ndu.edu/Portals/68/Documents/jfq/jfq-68/JFQ-68_18-24_Ward.pdf</ref> and ''Parameters'',<ref>Ward Hayes Wilson “Rethinking the Utility of Nuclear Weapons” Parameters https://press.armywarcollege.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3020&context=parameters</ref> in foreign policy journals ''Foreign Policy'' <ref>Ward Hayes Wilson. The Bomb Didn’t Beat Japan ... Stalin Did: Have 70 years of nuclear policy been based on a lie?, Foreign Policy, May 30, 2013</ref> and ''International Security'',<ref>Ward Hayes Wilson. The Winning Weapon? Rethinking Nuclear Weapons in Light of Hiroshima, International Security, 2007. Archived 2012-08-16 at the Wayback Machine</ref> and in the ''New York Times'',<ref>{{Cite news |last=Wilson |first=Ward |date=2013-01-14 |title=Opinion {{!}} The Myth of Nuclear Necessity |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/14/opinion/the-myth-of-nuclear-necessity.html |access-date=2024-07-05 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> the ''Los Angeles Times'',<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wilson |first=Ward Hayes |date=2023-08-03 |title=Opinion: 'Oppenheimer' only makes it harder to control nuclear weapons |url=https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2023-08-03/movie-oppenheimer-nuclear-weapons-control |access-date=2024-07-05 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref> and ''The Nation''.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Wilson |first=Ward |date=2017-08-11 |title=Nuclear Deterrence Will Fail |url=https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/nuclear-deterrence-will-fail/ |access-date=2024-07-05 |language=en-US |issn=0027-8378}}</ref>
Wilson received a grant in 2010 to write, travel, and speak on nuclear weapons issues.<ref>"Ward Wilson, Senior Fellow & Director of the Rethinking Nuclear Weapons project | BASIC - British American Security Information Council". Basicint.org. Archived from the original on 2013-05-10. Retrieved 2014-06-06.</ref> He presented arguments that challenge accepted ideas about nuclear weapons in 23 countries including at the Pentagon; the French National Assembly; the United Nations; the Scottish National Parliament; the U.S. State Department; Harvard; Stanford; Princeton; Georgetown; Yale; the Sorbonne; the U.S. Naval War College; King's College London; Hamburg University; Nagasaki University; University of Pretoria; the Mexican Foreign Ministry; the Belgian Parliament; the National Assembly of Costa Rica; Aberystwyth University, Wales; and Chatham House, London<ref>"Output". Rethinkingnuclearweapons.org. Archived from the original on 2014-07-14. Retrieved 2014-06-06.</ref>
Wilson launched his book ''Five Myths About Nuclear Weapons'' at an event at the United Nations in February 2013.<ref>"UNODA Update - Ward Wilson, author of "Five Myths About Nuclear Weapons" presents his book at the United Nations". Un.org. Retrieved 2014-06-06.</ref> He launched his second book ''It Is Possible: A Future Without Nuclear Weapons'' at the United Nations in 2023.<ref>"UNODA and Permanent Mission of Austria hosted a First Committee Side Event: the book launch of “It is Possible: A future without nuclear weapons” by Ward Wilson” https://disarmament.unoda.org/update/unoda-and-permanent-mission-of-austria-hosted-a-first-committee-side-event-the-book-launch-of-it-is-possible-a-future-without-nuclear-weapons-by-ward-wilson/#:~:text=On%2025%20October%202023,%20the,the%20Executive%20Director%20of%20RealistRevolt</ref>
==Awards and honors== *RFK Fellow, The Robert Kennedy Memorial Foundation, 1981.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=University |first1=© Stanford |last2=Stanford |last3=California 94305 |title=Four Myths About Nuclear Weapons: Hiroshima, H-Bomb, Deterrence and |url=http://cisac.fsi.stanford.edu/events/four_myths_about_nuclear_weapons_hiroshima_hbomb_deterrence_and_usefulness |access-date=2024-05-03 |website=cisac.fsi.stanford.edu |language=en}}</ref> *Doreen and Jim McElvaney Prize, which included a $10,000 award for the best essay on nuclear weapons worldwide in 2008.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Previous Winners: Doreen & Jim McElvany Nonproliferation Award |url=https://nonproliferation.org/research/nonproliferation-review/doreen_jim_mcelvany/previous-winners/ |access-date=2024-05-03 |website=James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies |language=en-US}}</ref>
== Publications == *''Five Myths About Nuclear Weapons'', Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 2013. ** [https://doi.org/10.1080/10736700.2012.655085 Review by Derrin Culp]. *"[http://www.basicint.org/sites/default/files/strengthening_nonproliferation_ward_wilson.pdf Strengthening Nonproliferation]", British American Security Information Council, October 2013 *"[https://web.archive.org/web/20130522214054/http://strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pubs/parameters/Issues/WinterSpring_2013/5_Article_Wilson.pdf Rethinking the Utility of Nuclear Weapons],” ''Parameters'', 2013. *"[https://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/14/opinion/the-myth-of-nuclear-necessity.html?ref=opinion Myth of Nuclear Necessity]," op-ed, ''The New York Times'', January 13, 2013. *“[http://cns.miis.edu/npr/pdfs/153_wilson.pdf The Myth of Nuclear Deterrence],” ''Nonproliferation Review'', Vol. 15, No. 3, 2008. *“[http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/publication/855/winning_weapon_rethinking_nuclear_weapons_in_light_of_hiroshima.html The Winning Weapon? Rethinking Nuclear Weapons in Light of Hiroshima],” ''International Security'', 2007.
==See also== {{portal|biography}} *Doomsday Clock
== References == {{reflist}}
==External links== *[https://thebulletin.org/biography/ward-wilson/ Ward Wilson], ''Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists'' *[https://www.un.org/disarmament/update/20130220/ Ward Wilson, author of “Five Myths About Nuclear Weapons” presents his book at the United Nations], ''UNODA'' *[https://www.pressenza.com/2019/07/interview-with-ward-wilson-author-5-myths-of-nuclear-weapons/ Interview with Ward Wilson, author, “5 Myths of Nuclear Weapons”], July 22, 2019 *[https://www.realistrevolt.org/ RealistRevolt], a project by Ward Wilson
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Ward}} Category:Living people Category:Arms control people Category:1956 births