As The Harry Frank Guggenheim Fellow for Nuclear Ethics and Security, Professor Sagan will launch a new research, community building, and education initiative addressing today’s rapidly evolving nuclear strategic environment
New York, NY – September 14, 2026 – Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs, in partnership with The Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation (HFG), today announced the appointment of Scott Sagan as The Harry Frank Guggenheim Fellow for Nuclear Ethics and Security.
Sagan is co-director of Stanford University’s Center for International Security and Cooperation, the Caroline S. G. Munro Professor of Political Science, and the Bass University Fellow in Undergraduate Education. He will join Carnegie Council as a nonresident fellow focused on the ethical choices arising in an increasingly nuclearized world.
“Professor Sagan is a renowned scholar of nuclear ethics and international security—an authoritative voice and brilliant analyst,” said Joel Rosenthal, president of Carnegie Council. “As we look for insights on ethics and strategy at this pivotal moment when nuclear capabilities are expanding while institutional restraints are weakening, we are grateful to have Scott leading our efforts.”
The establishment of The Harry Frank Guggenheim Fellowship for Nuclear Ethics and Security will produce cutting-edge thought leadership, create a network that connects experienced scholars and practitioners with young professionals and students, and foster new collaboration between thought leaders, institutional and government partners, and stakeholders.
“I am thrilled to receive this Fellowship enabling me to think and write more about ethics, law, and nuclear weapons in this coming year,” Professor Sagan noted. “Carnegie Council has tremendous convening power, and I very much look forward to a year of deep engagement and debate about how best to reduce nuclear risk in this increasingly dangerous world.”
"More than three decades since the end of the Cold War, the threat of nuclear conflict once again looms," said Daniel F. Wilhelm, president of The Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation. "The need for informed, ethical research and thought leadership remains not only necessary, but imperative amid increasing global nuclearization, weakened institutional constraints, and public apathy."
In 2025, Carnegie Council partnered with The Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation to convene researchers, practitioners, journalists, and religious leaders to address "nuclear complacency” as an urgent threat to international stability. The primary finding from the workshop, amplified by recent world events, was that due to changing U.S. commitments, the principle of extended deterrence cannot be taken for granted. If this pillar of international order weakens, what comes next? The Harry Frank Guggenheim Fellowship is a response to this pivotal moment.
About The Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation:
The Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation examines enduring and urgent problems of violence, such as war, crime and human aggression. Through basic and applied research, The Foundation aims to understand the cause, manifestation, and control of violence in the United States and around the globe. The Foundation awards competitive research grants and fellowships to advance scholarship, and disseminates knowledge to inform policy, practice and discourse.
About Carnegie Council:
Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs is an independent 501(c) (3) nonprofit institution that works to empower ethics globally by identifying and addressing the most critical ethical issues of today and tomorrow. Founded by Andrew Carnegie over a century ago, Carnegie Council sets the global ethical agenda by convening leading experts, building active communities, producing agenda-setting resources, and catalyzing the creation of ethical solutions to global problems. For more information, please visit CarnegieCouncil.org, subscribe to the Carnegie Ethics Newsletter, and engage with us on social media.
Contact:
Kathleen Egan
Senior Program Associate, Carnegie Council
[email protected]
