Nuclear Weapons Ethics and a Critique of the "Strong Case" for Disarmament
Dr. Christopher Ford • July 6, 2023
The Center for Global Security Research at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has just published a new volume of essays discussing the morality and ethics of nuclear weapons and deterrence: Morality and Nuclear Weapons: Practitioner Perspectives, edited by Brad Roberts. Dr. Ford's contribution to that volume – a chapter entitled “Nuclear Weapons Ethics and a Critique of the ‘Strong Case’ for Disarmament” – appears on pages 64-83. You can find the entire book on CGSR's website here, or by using the button below to download a PDF of Dr. Ford's chapter.
From page 65:
“As my contribution to this volume, I will ... offer an outline of the most emphatic possible case that I believe can be made for the abolition of nuclear weapons. I will then examine the assumptions upon which the elements of that argument are premised—assessing their relative strengths and weaknesses—before offering my own thoughts about how to approach these ethical debates and to think morally about nuclear weaponry.”
Below is the prepared text upon which Dr. Ford based his shorter oral remarks to the U.S-China Nuclear Workshop on November 19, 2025, convened by the Protect on Managing the Atom and the Council on Strategic Risks, held at the Belfer Center at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.
Below is the prepared text upon which Dr. Ford based his (much) shorter remarks on a panel on geopolitical risk on November 18, 2025, sponsored by Forward Global and the Oxford University Alumni Network.
Below is the text upon which Dr. Ford based his remarks at a conference in China on November 8, 2025.
Below is the text upon which Dr. Ford based his remarks to the Labs Nuclear Scholars Initiative at CSIS on October 20, 2025.
In October 2025, the Next Generation Nuclear Network at the Center for Strategic and International Studies released a long recorded interview with Dr. Ford as part of its Arms Control oral history project entitled “The Negotiator Files.” You can find Dr. Ford's interview here .
Below is the prepared text upon which Dr. Ford based his remarks at an event at Hudson Institute on October 2, 2025, on the U.S. Institute of Peace Senior Study Group on Strategic Stability’s recent report on “ Sustaining the Nuclear Peace .”
Below is the prepared text upon which Dr. Ford based his remarks at a briefing for Congressional staffers on September 30, 2025, organized by the University of Pennsylvania’s Washington Cente r and the Wilson Center .
Below is the prepared text upon which Dr. Ford based his remarks to the “arms control boot camp” program for young national security professionals organized by the CSIS Project on Nuclear Issues in Washington, D.C., on September 30, 2025.
Below are the remarks upon which Dr. Ford based his opening remarks in a webinar on September 23, 2025, sponsored by the National Institute for Public Policy (NIPP).
Below are the remarks Dr. Ford delivered on September 22, 2025, at a conference in Singapore sponsored by the Pacific Forum.