Jeffrey Lewis is an American expert in nuclear nonproliferation and geopolitics, currently an Adjunct Professor at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, and director of the CNS East Asia Nonproliferation Program. He has written two books on China's nuclear weapons, and numerous journal and magazine articles, blog posts, podcasts, and tweets on nonproliferation and related topics. He is known as a popularizer of nonproliferation and strategic topics since 2004 via his blog site "Arms Control Wonk". and the related Arms Control Wonk Podcasts, which are cohosted by him and Aaron Stein. He also tweets as @ArmsControlWonk. Lewis has been repeatedly cited as an expert on nuclear programs of China, North Korea, Iran, Pakistan, and South Africa in the media. His research interests have also included open-source intelligence, using and promoting the use of analysis of satellite images, photography, and other information sources to understand events and issues in proliferation and related topics.
From 2007 to 2010, Lewis directed the Nuclear Strategy and Nonproliferation Initiative at the New America Foundation. From 2006 to 2007, he was Executive Director of the Managing the Atom Project at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University. Since 2010, Lewis has been the Director of the East Asia Nonproliferation Program at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at MIIS in Monterey, California, and an adjunct professor at MIIS. Research topics have included nuclear proliferation and weapons programs of China, North Korea, Iran, and other states, and open-source intelligence performed by the policy community itself. He has worked with graduate students and MIIS and other researchers to develop tools and provide training on tools and technology for open source intelligence. He is also an affiliate with the Stanford University Center for International Security and Cooperation.
North Korea
Lewis has extensively written and spoken, including for media reports, on the weapons tests, development program, and missile programs of North Korea, a country covered by the East Asia Nonproliferation Program. Lewis has written specifically about North Korea's nuclear materials production; weapons design choices ; missiles and the North Korean space program; North Korea's missile press coverage, propaganda, and misinformation. He makes frequent use of open source intelligence from satellite and press/propaganda images and stories. On April 27, 2017, Lewis dismissed the notion, promoted by Peter Vincent Pry and others, that North Korea could seriously harm the United States with an EMP weapon.
China
One of the countries covered by the East Asia Nonproliferation Program, China has been a focus for Lewis, including his two books and monograph. His books Paper Tigers: China's Nuclear Posture and The Minimum Means of Reprisal: China's Search for Security in the Nuclear Age examine China's nuclear weapons and missiles policies. He wrote, podcasted, and was cited in mainstream press coverage in 2015 rebutting claims that China's adding MIRVs to its larger missiles was a dangerous escalation, arguing instead that it was a natural evolution for the Chinese older, larger missile force. He has also studied and written about China's nuclear program as it relates to other powers such as India. Lewis has also written on China's conventional weapons program, including antiship and conventional ballistic missile programs and their testing of a hypervelocity weapon system.
Publications
Books
The 2020 Commission Report on the North Korean Nuclear Attacks Against the United States: A Speculative Novel – Mariner Books –
Paper Tigers: China's Nuclear Posture – Adelphi Series – Routledge –
The Minimum Means of Reprisal: China's Search for Security in the Nuclear Age – MIT Press –
