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Professor Michael Nacht is the Schneider Chair Emeritus and Professor of the Graduate School.
He is a noted scholar of US national security policy who has held leadership positions in academia and government. He was a member of the directing staff of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government (1973-1983), arguably the most prominent US academically-based research center on science, technology and public policy. He was Dean of the University of Maryland School of Public Affairs (1986-1994). And he served as Dean of the UC Berkeley Goldman School (1998-2008) when the School first received the ranking as the nation's number one graduate school of public policy analysis by US News and World Report.
In government he twice was appointed to US Senate-confirmed positions. After unanimous Senate confirmation he was Assistant Director for Strategic and Eurasian Affairs of the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (1994-1997) where he participated in five presidential summits with President Bill Clinton: four with Russian President Boris Yeltsin and one with Chinese President Jiang Zemin. Then again after unanimous Senate confirmation, he served under President Barack Obama as Assistant Secretary of Defense for Global Strategic Affairs (20009-2010) where he chaired the NATO High Level Group that establishes the alliance's nuclear weapons policies and for which he was awarded the Department of Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the Department's highest civilian honor.
Nacht has published seven books and more than eighty journal articles and book chapters. Most recently he co-authored with MIke Frank and Stan Prussin the book Nuclear Security: The Nexus Among Science, Technology and Policy (Springer Nature, 2021) and also co-authored with Larry Henry, founder of Container Trak, the report "U.S. West Coast Port Automation" (2021), commissioned by the Pacific Maritime Association.
He received a B.S. in Aeronautics and Astronautics from New York University and a PhD in Political Science with an emphasis on strategic studies from Columbia University and holds three other advanced degrees.
He continues to teach and advise graduate students, primarily on topics in US national security policy, and serves as an advisor to several US Department of Energy laboratories and other organizations.
Contact and Office Hours
Office Hours
By appointment only
About
Areas of Expertise
- US National Security Policy and International Relations
- Science, Technology and Public Policy
- Management Strategies for Complex Organizations
Curriculum Vitae
Research
Selected Publications
Terminal Automation in Southern California: Implications for Growth, Jobs, and the Future Competitives of West Coast Ports
Nacht, Michael; Henry, L. (2022). Terminal Automation in Southern California: Implications for Growth, Jobs, and the Future Competitiveness of West Coast Ports.
National Missile Defense: An American Perspective
Nacht, Michael. National Missile Defense: An American Perspective (Paris: French Institute of International Relations, November 2001), 32pp.
Weapons Proliferation and Missile Defense: New Patterns, Tough Choices
Nacht, Michael. "Weapons Proliferation and Missile Defense: New Patterns, Tough Choices," in Robert Lieber (ed.), Eagle Rules? Foreign Policy and American Primacy in the Twenty-First Century (New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2001).
Les Notes de L’ifri: Missile Defense and International Security in the 21st Century
Nacht, Michael. Les Notes de L’ifri: Missle Defense and International Security in the 21st Century (France: Ifri, 2001).
Missile defense appears as a topic of intense international debate every ten years. This happened in the 1960s and 1970s prior to the signing of the ABM Treaty (Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty); in the 1980s with the Strategic Defense Initaitive (SDI); and in the 1990s, following the Gulf War, with the GPALS project (Global Protection Against Limited Strikes). Today the NMD project (National Missile Defense)-re-designated MD (Missile Defense)- with the arrival of the Bush Administration- might well, unlike its forerunners, be progressively deployed. It could re-map strategic relations among the main world players, especially after the September 11th terrorist attacks.
National Missile Defense—The Politics: How Did We Get Here?
Nacht, Michael. “National Missile Defense--The Politics: How Did We Get Here?” The Washington Quarterly, vol. 23, No. 3, Summer 2000.
In the News
Articles and Op-Eds
Attack in Nice, France Leaves at Least 84 Dead
KQED Forum, July 15, 2016
Are West Coast ports heading for a storm?
SF Chronicle, October 22, 2015
When cutting-edge tech turns against us, we need a strategy
SF Chronicle, August 14, 2015
Wider Panama Canal may threaten West Coast jobs
SF Gate, August 31, 2014
Why Putin sees little risk in Ukraine aggression
SF Chronicle, March 14, 2014
Explosions at the Boston Marathon
KQED Radio, April 16, 2013
What Does Kim Jong Il's Death Really Mean?
Washington Post, December 19, 2011
Media Citations
Democrat Would Also Broaden Security Agenda : 'Pre-emptive Diplomacy' Is the Key to Gore Policy
The New York Times, August 17, 2000
Panama Canal Expansion: Challenge And Opportunity For Southwest Economy
Fronteras Desk, June 28, 2016
Port of Oakland sees upside in losing giant tenant
SF Chronicle, January 22, 2016
Philadelphia Shooting Suspect Pledges Allegiance to Islamic State
The Wall Street Journal, January 8, 2016
US Treads Warily Amid Iran-Saudi Tensions
KTVU, January 4, 2016
Webcasts
Public Research Universities: Recommitting to Lincoln’s Vision
Robert J. Birgeneau, Henry E. Brady, Michael Nacht,
Event: Public Research Universities: Recommitting to Lincoln's Vision
Date: September 8, 2016 Duration: 68 minutes
Conflict Zones and National Security with Michael Nacht
Michael Nacht, Henry E. Brady,
Date: February 5, 2016 Duration: 28 minutes
After Nuclear Weapons: Revolutionary Technologies from Turkey to China
Michael Nacht,
Event: Spring 2014 Board of Advisors Dinner
Date: April 20, 2014 Duration: 48 minutes
2008 Wildavsky Forum Panel Discussion: Explaining the Inexplicable: Suicide Bombers’ Motivation as the Quest for Personal Significance
Arie W. Kruglanski, Michael Nacht, James N. Breckenridge,
Event: 2008 Wildavsky Forum - Arie W. Kruglanski
Date: April 4, 2008 Duration: 116 minutes
Courses
List of Courses
Last updated on 07/18/2022