Todd S. Sechser

Todd S. Sechser is the Pamela Feinour Edmonds and Franklin S. Edmonds Jr. Discovery professor of politics and public policy at the University of Virginia.  An expert on nuclear deterrence and international security, Sechser’s work includes the book Nuclear Weapons and Coercive Diplomacy and the articles “Crisis Bargaining and Nuclear Blackmail” and “Goliath's Curse: Coercive Threats and Asymmetric Power.”

Sechser’s research covers a wide variety of topics in international security and foreign policy, including alliances and nuclear deterrence, military technology, and coercion.  His work has appeared in a wide variety of academic journals, including International Organization, the American Journal of Political Science, International Studies Quarterly, the Journal of Conflict Resolution, the Journal of Strategic Studies, and Non-Proliferation Review.  He is also coeditor of the book Emerging Technologies and International Stability.

His writing on foreign policy has been published in the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, and the Christian Science Monitor, and he regularly consults for several government and military agencies.  He has appeared in a wide variety of media, including NPR, CNN, the New York Times, U.S. News and World Report, and other outlets.

Sechser is also a faculty senior fellow at the Miller Center at the University of Virginia.  He was previously a Stanton Nuclear Security Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and a John M. Olin National Security Fellow at Harvard University. He received his PhD in political science from Stanford University, where he wrote an award-winning doctoral dissertation.