Prof William Walker

Emeritus Professor

Researcher profile

Email

wbw@st-andrews.ac.uk

 

Research areas

International politics and regulation of weapons of mass destruction, with emphasis on nuclear weapons and fissile materials, and on problems in technological decision-making.

Initially trained as an electrical engineer, William Walker has been involved in the study of technological innovation, energy policy, military industries and international nuclear relations during his academic career. Over the past decade, he has become particularly well known for his work on international inventories of, and control over, plutonium and highly enriched uranium, the fissile materials used in nuclear weapons.  Since 2001, his research has focused on how to conceptualise and respond to the problems that weapons of mass destruction pose for international order.  He has also been examining the political and institutional processes by which complex technological decisions and paths become entrenched.

Selected publications

• Open access

  The history of nuclear power's imagined future: plutonium's journey from asset to waste

  Walker, W., 7 Sept 2021, In: Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. 77, 5, p. 259-264 6 p.

  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

• Trident’s replacement and the survival of the United Kingdom

  Walker, W. B., 3 Sept 2015, In: Survival. 57, 5, p. 7-28 22 p.

  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

• The Problem of Weak Nuclear States

  Walker, W. B. & Wheeler, N. J., Dec 2013, In: The Nonproliferation Review. 20, 3, p. 411-431 21 p.

  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

• A Perpetual Menace: Nuclear Weapons and International Order

  Walker, W. B., 2012, London: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group. 254 p. (Routledge Global Security Studies ; no. 28)

  Research output: Book/Report › Book

• The UK, threshold states and responsible nuclear sovereignty

  Walker, W. B., 2010, In: International Affairs. 86, 2, p. 447-464 18 p.

  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

• The absence of a taboo on the possession of nuclear weapons

  Walker, W. B., 2010, In: Review of International Studies. 36, 4, p. 865-876 12 p.

  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

• The Quest for International Nuclear Order

  Walker, W. B., 2008, In: Die Friedens-Warte. 83, 2-3, p. 35-55

  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

• International nuclear order: a rejoinder

  Walker, W., Jul 2007, In: International Affairs. 83, 4, p. 747-756 11 p.

  Research output: Contribution to journal › Editorial › peer-review

• Nuclear Enlightenment and Counter-Enlightenment

  Walker, W. B., May 2007, In: International Affairs. 83, 3, p. 431-453 24 p.

  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

• Nuclear proliferation and international security

  Walker, W., 2007, In: Internasjonal Politikk. 65, p. 167-170 4 p.

  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

 

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