Leading expert to speak on ‘nuclear alarmism’

BOWLING GREEN, O.—One of the pre-eminent experts in the field of political science will deliver Bowling Green State University’s first Nakamoto Peace and Conflict Studies Lecture. Dr. John Mueller will speak on “Nuclear Alarmism from Hiroshima to Al-Quaeda” at 7 p.m. April 13 in 115 Education Building.

The lecture is timely, points out Dr. Marc Simon, coordinator of BGSU’s Peace and Conflict Studies minor, as on April 8 President Obama will be presenting his revision of U.S. nuclear strategy; he also just signed a nuclear arms reduction agreement with Russia, and April 5 was the one-year anniversary of his speech in Prague where he announced the long-term goal to abolish nuclear weapons.

Mueller holds the Woody Hayes Chair of National Security Studies at the Mershon Center, and is a professor of political science, at Ohio State University. He has written extensively on public opinion and U.S. foreign policy, as well as warfare and terrorism. He is currently working on terrorism, particularly on the reactions (or over-reactions) it often inspires. His most recent book, “Atomic Obsession: Nuclear Alarmism from Hiroshima to Al Qaeda,” published in November 2009 by Oxford University Press, suggests that atomic terrorism is highly unlikely and that efforts to prevent nuclear proliferation frequently have damaging results. He has also written “Overblown: How Politicians and the Terrorism Industry Inflate National Security Threats, and Why We Believe Them,” published in 2006 by Free Press.  
 
Mueller is the author of a multiple-prize-winning book analyzing public opinion during the Korean and Vietnam wars, “War, Presidents and Public Opinion,” deemed "a classic" by the American Political Science Review.

An award-winning teacher, Mueller has also appeared on such popular television shows as “The O’Reilly Factor,” “20/20” and “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.” He has written two scripts for musicals, authored “Astaire Dancing,” and is the director of the Ohio State Dance Film Archive.

In addition to the lecture, the Peace and Conflict Studies program is also sponsoring an essay contest on nuclear issues, with a $500 scholarship for the winner.

Inspired by her own survival of the dropping of an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, BGSU alumna Hiroko Nakamoto has donated $500 to inspire current BGSU students to consider the issue of nuclear weapons in our world.

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Editor’s Note: For more information, contact Dr. Marc Simon at 419-372-7386 or msimon@bgsu.edu, or Bonnie Blankinship, Marketing and Communications, at 419-372-2618.

(Posted April 07, 2010 )