Experts

Todd Sechser

Faculty Senior Fellow
Sechser, Todd - CV.pdf

Fast Facts

  • Professor of Politics and Public Policy at the University of Virginia
  • Coauthor of Nuclear Weapons and Coercive Diplomacy
  • Nonresident scholar, Nuclear Policy Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
  • Expertise in international relations, foreign policy, nuclear security, emerging technologies

Areas Of Expertise

  • Foreign Affairs
  • American Defense and Security
  • War and Terrorism
  • World Happenings

Todd S. Sechser is professor of politics and a faculty senior fellow at the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia. He is also a nonresident scholar in the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. His research focuses on coercive diplomacy, nuclear security, emerging military technologies, and foreign policy.

Sechser is coauthor of Nuclear Weapons and Coercive Diplomacy (Cambridge University Press) and coeditor of Emerging Technologies and International Stability (Routledge). His work has appeared in the American Journal of Political Science, International Organization, International Studies Quarterly, Journal of Conflict Resolution, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, and the Journal of Strategic Studies, among other journals, and his policy writing has been published in The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, and other media venues. He previously directed the multi-university Program on Strategic Stability Evaluation, a nuclear strategy study group, and was the founding director of the UVA Karsh Institute’s Democratic Statecraft Lab.

Secher's research has been supported by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the U.S. Air Force, and the Stanton Foundation, and he regularly consults for several government and military agencies.

Sechser was previously a Stanton Nuclear Security Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and a postdoctoral fellow at the Olin Institute for Strategic Studies at Harvard University. He received his PhD in political science from Stanford University, where his dissertation won the Walter Isard Award for the Best Dissertation in Peace Science. Before entering academia, Sechser worked as a nuclear policy analyst at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

He has received multiple awards for teaching, including the All-University Teaching Award and the inaugural Cory Family Teaching Award. He currently directs the Politics Honors Program.

Featured Publications

Coercive diploacy
Nuclear Weapons and Coercive Diplomacy

Todd Sechser

Todd Sechser News Feed

headline
Professor Todd Sechser awarded 2026 All-University Teaching Award
Sechser is recognized for bringing nuclear strategy and foreign policy to life through role-playing assignments, classroom simulations, and original research projects.
Todd Sechser University of Virginia
virginia humanities headline
Reflections of Cold War Anxieties
During the Cold War, tensions between the US and Russia were at an all time high. A kind of existential fear seeped into many aspects of society – including the silver screen. Todd Sechser charts the shifting anxieties over nuclear war reflected in movies from the 1960’s to the 80’s.
Todd Sechser Virginia Humanities
VOA
Ninth anniversary of the Russian annexation of Crimea
“The idea that Ukraine could take back Crimea was completely unbelievable years ago, and the world has effectively written it off. But this is no longer the case. President Zelensky today speaks of the return of Crimea as one of his priorities. Even the Biden administration has at least confirmed this possibility, saying it wants Crimea to eventually return to Ukraine. But this issue is probably not on the agenda right now for several reasons."
Todd Sechser Voice of America
Fox
What is the New START Treaty?
Putin announced Tuesday that he would suspend Russia's involvement in the New START Treaty, but what is that? Todd Sechser, a professor of politics at the University of Virginia joined LiveNOW from FOX's Josh Breslow to explain.
Todd Sechser Fox LiveNow
CNN
What to know about Russia’s latest move on nuclear weapons
I went back to the authors of the 2017 book, “Nuclear Weapons and Coercive Diplomacy” – Matthew Fuhrmann, a professor at Texas A&M University, and Todd Sechser, a professor at the University of Virginia – for their assessment of what this new development means in terms of worldwide nuclear security. I’ve spoken to them periodically over the past year about Putin’s nuclear rhetoric. I asked Sechser some specific questions and Fuhrmann offered some general thoughts about what Putin’s move means. Portions of both conversations are below.
Todd Sechser CNN
screenshot of article headline and headshots of Todd Sechser and other panelists
Averting catastrophe: walking the talk on nuclear risk reduction and crisis communications
The Institute for Security and Technology (IST) held a discussion about nuclear risk reduction and crisis communication with Todd Sechser, faculty senior fellow at the University of Virginia's Miller Center, along with Dr. Tong Zhao, Dmitry Stefanovich, and Leah Walker.
Todd Sechser Institute for Security and Technology