experts
Toby Dalton
Senior Fellow and Co-director, Nuclear Policy Program

about


Toby Dalton is a senior fellow and co-director of the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment. An expert on nonproliferation and nuclear energy, his work addresses regional security challenges and the evolution of the global nuclear order.

Dalton’s research and writing focuses in particular on South Asia and East Asia. He is author (with George Perkovich) of Not War, Not Peace? Motivating Pakistan to Prevent Cross-Border Terrorism (Oxford University Press, 2016), which provides in-depth analysis of conflict in South Asia. He also wrote (with Ariel Levite) “The Nonproliferation Regime is Breaking” (Foreign Affairs, January 2022).

From 2002 to 2010, Dalton served in a variety of high-level positions at the U.S. Department of Energy, including as senior policy adviser to the Office of Nonproliferation and International Security. He also established and led the department’s office at the U.S. embassy in Pakistan from 2008-2009.

Dalton previously served as professional staff member to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, a Luce Scholar at the Institute for Far Eastern Studies in Seoul, a research associate at the National Bureau of Asian Research, and a project associate for the Carnegie Nuclear Policy Program.

He has authored numerous op-eds and journal articles in publications such as Survival, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, the Washington Quarterly, Asia Policy, Politico, the National Interest, the Diplomat, Dawn, the Wire, Force, and Dong-A Ilbo.


education
PhD, George Washington University , MA, University of Washington , BA, Occidental College
languages
English, German

All work from Toby Dalton

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147 Results
Billboard showing US and Iranian leaders in Tehran
commentary
How to Avert a Looming Nuclear Crisis With Iran

The best option already has a successful playbook from 2013.

· October 31, 2024
In The Media
in the media
A Path Toward a Nuclear Off-Ramp with Iran

The United States must take the lead in seeking an off-ramp with Iran that constrains its nuclear activities well short of a bomb.

· October 10, 2024
The Hill
In The Media
in the media
South Korea Goes Nuclear. Then What?

Before jumping on the proliferation bandwagon, policymakers in Washington and Seoul should consider five critical questions that are being ignored today. The answers to these questions suggest that the imagined benefits of friendly proliferation do not clearly outweigh the risks.

· September 22, 2024
Foreign Policy
The USS Carl Vinson, a US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, is anchored at a South Korean naval base during its port visit in the southeastern port city of Busan on November 22, 2023.
article
Nuclear for Nuclear? Understanding Divergent South Korean and American Perceptions on Deterring North Korea

There is a persistent question over how to communicate U.S.-ROK alliance deterrence posture, particularly in the event of a nuclear attack by North Korea.

  • +1
· June 27, 2024
In The Media
in the media
Iran’s Nuclear Threshold Challenge

To navigate the twin problems of dealing with Iran and preventing the nuclear threshold from becoming a desirable status for others, policymakers ultimately will need to reconfigure nuclear energy and nonproliferation policy.

· May 23, 2024
War on the Rocks
In The Media
in the media
Nuclear Friend-Shoring? Issues With Uranium Enrichment Cooperation

The U.S. could cooperate with foreign partners on uranium enrichment to wean nuclear power plants off Russian fuel. But should it?

· April 24, 2024
Lawfare
article
Dimming Prospects for U.S.-Russia Nonproliferation Cooperation

As Russia’s calculus shifts in response to its war in Ukraine, U.S.-Russian alignment to manage global nuclear risks, especially from Iran and North Korea, is unraveling.

REQUIRED IMAGE
In the Media
Mind the Gaps: Reading South Korea’s Emergent Proliferation Strategy

South Korea has long been on the list of potential over-the-horizon proliferation challenges, but growing debates in Seoul about its nuclear options are quickly moving it toward the front of the U.S. nonproliferation agenda.

  • Kylie Jones
· July 13, 2023
Washington Quarterly
In The Media
in the media
AUKUS as a Nonproliferation Standard?

Although the geopolitical rationale for the arrangement is understandable, the parties have failed to come to terms with its core problems.

· July 6, 2023
The Arms Control Association
In The Media
in the media
America’s Ironclad Alliance With South Korea Is a Touch Rusty

If the steps today encourage South Korea to fixate on nuclear weapons, they will end up like past nuclear assurance measures—just more water poured into the bucket and out the hole in the bottom.

· April 27, 2023
Foreign Policy