Scholars Online
Thomas M. Nichols
United States Naval War College
Filmed in July 2007.
- What is the difference between preemptive and preventive war? [1:10]
- What are examples of preemptive and preventive military action? [1:08]
- How has international opinion on preventive war changed? [1:20]
- What problems do we face from nuclear weapons? [1:57]
- What is deterrence? [0:57]
- What do you think the phrase “One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter” means? [1:47]
- Can terrorists have legitimate demands? [2:03]
- What is an “imminent threat"? [1:37]
- Does nuclear deterrence work? [3:06]
- What are the pros and cons of using preventive military action? [1:57]
Thomas M. Nichols is a professor of national security affairs and a former chairman of the Strategy Department at the United States Naval War College in Newport, RI. He previously taught international relations and Soviet/Russian affairs at Dartmouth and Georgetown Universities. He holds a PhD from Georgetown University, an MA from Columbia University, the Certificate of the Harriman Institute for Advanced Study of the Soviet Union at Columbia, and a BA from Boston University.
He was personal staff for defense and security affairs in the United States Senate to the late Sen. John Heinz of Pennsylvania, and served as a fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC. He is currently a fellow in both the International Security Program and the Project on Managing the Atom at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He is also a senior associate of the Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affairs in New York City and a fellow of the International History Institute at Boston University.
His most recent book, about the revolutionary changes taking place in how nations go to war, is Eve of Destruction: The Coming Age of Preventive War (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2008).
