Thomas Fraise

Thomas Fraise

@thfraise.bsky.social

Nuclear weapons, deterrence, secrecy, and democracy. Currently, Univ. of Copenhagen & Nuclear Knowledges. Co-editor in chief of PARISS Journal.

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Thomas Fraise
@thfraise.bsky.social

What were the 'Wizards of Armageddon' good for? 🧙 Critiques of nuclear deterrence have mocked the "medieval wizardry" involved in their "esoteric body of learning" who would ultimately have amounted to little policy influence. My latest article argues differently. academic.oup.com/isagsq/artic...

academic.oup.comThe Magicians of Nuclear Strategy: Ritualized Knowledge Production and the Origins of Strategic Nuclear ThoughtAbstract. In the 1950s, a new intellectual figure emerged in American strategic debates: the nuclear strategist. Drawn largely from the RAND Corporation, t
Thomas Fraise
@thfraise.bsky.social

It should be surprising that European allies perceive France as potentially less committed to Europe than the United Kingdom, the country who most famously refused to politically commit to Europe. Could be a method issue, I guess (from RAND Europe latest report)

Thomas Fraise reposted

Dare Obasanjo
@carnage4life.bsky.social

Going from claiming your company is working on technology that might destroy humanity to leaking you’re on track to generate $100 billion in sales this year, just in time for the IPO. Makes it hard to defend the claims that this hasn’t all been a cynical form of marketing and regulatory capture.

Thomas Fraise
@thfraise.bsky.social

I have a new paper out! It looks into the early history of nuclear secrecy and examines how US standards of secrecy diffused toward European allies through coercion and imitation, shaping their domestic practices. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

tandfonline.comExporting nuclear secrecy. The transatlantic diffusion of nuclear secrecy practices in the postwar period (1945-1953)Published in Cambridge Review of International Affairs (Ahead of Print, 2026)
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Thomas Fraise
@thfraise.bsky.social

I have a new paper out! It looks into the early history of nuclear secrecy and examines how US standards of secrecy diffused toward European allies through coercion and imitation, shaping their domestic practices. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

tandfonline.comExporting nuclear secrecy. The transatlantic diffusion of nuclear secrecy practices in the postwar period (1945-1953)Published in Cambridge Review of International Affairs (Ahead of Print, 2026)
Thomas Fraise
@thfraise.bsky.social

Our understanding of nuclear secrecy is heavily influenced by US-based (and to an extent, UK) case studies. This piece attemps to correct this tendency by looking at Sweden and France.

Thomas Fraise reposted

Stars and Stripes
@starsandstripes.bsky.social

A civilian geography professor was fired from West Point for pushing back after department officials barred faculty from teaching that humans contribute to climate change.

stripes.comWest Point professor fired after pushing back on limitations to teaching climate change, lawsuit saysAdam Kalkstein pushed back after department officials barred faculty from teaching that humans contribute to climate change, the lawsuit says.

Thomas Fraise reposted

Pieter T. L. Beck
@ptrbck.bsky.social

Replying to @kohngregory.bsky.social

His comment about becoming "head of the department of eugenics and race science at Harvard" seems to confirm that his whole DEI/race/woke-obsession is just him never having gotten over the fact that he was rejected at Harvard

Thomas Fraise
@thfraise.bsky.social

An opportunity to repost my favorite Hume atheism persecution story

Kevin Zollman@kevinzollman.com

Academia was so much better before Woke. Sure, David Hume was never able to secure an academic job because he might have been an atheist. But at least no one made him use the singular "they"

Thomas Fraise
@thfraise.bsky.social

My review of Rebecca Lubot’s book on the (nuclear) history of the US 25th Amendment is out with H-Diplo. It is a timely contribution, highlighting how deterrence constraints shape the institutions of democratic states. I recommend it! networks.h-net.org/group/discus...

networks.h-net.orgH-Diplo|Jervis Forum Review 190: Fraise on Lubot, _Keeping a Finger on the Button_ | H-NetThe Jervis ForumH-Diplo | Robert Jervis International Security Studies ForumReview 190Rebecca C. Lubot, Keeping a Finger on the Button. Presidential Continuity and the Nuclear Age. Palgrave Macmillan,...

Thomas Fraise reposted

Erin Sikorsky
@erinsikorsky.bsky.social

A whole dang story about NATO contemplating resilience at the Port of Rotterdam (a key hub for military logistics in case of a conflict in Europe) without a single mention of sea level rise: www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe...

csmonitor.comAhead of summit, NATO eyes the security of Europe’s ports and bridgesIf war breaks out in Europe, the resilience of civilian hubs – such as ports – might be as critical as the size of armies. This will be a major theme of NATO’s annual summit.

Thomas Fraise reposted

André Loez & podcast Paroles d’histoire
@andreloez.bsky.social

Un texte qui me semble tout à fait important: critique des orientations du directeur de ScPo Luis Vassy en matière d'études internationales, avec de très bons rappels sur l'efficacité des outils des sciences sociales, y compris pour penser de façon "réaliste" la "puissance" aoc.media/analyse/2026...

aoc.mediaPenser le monde d’aujourd’hui avec des idées d’hier : Luis Vassy et l'international - AOC mediaLe directeur de Sciences Po a publié dans Le Grand Continent sa vision des études internationales : un retour au réalisme stratégique, une méfiance assumée envers le droit, une approche réduite à ce q...
Thomas Fraise
@thfraise.bsky.social

What is the timeline of this kind of proposals? The UK retired the WE.177 in the 90s. It would probably have to redesign a warhead, or rework existing designs, without the possibility of testing and, presumably, with strained US support (French support maybe?).

Thomas Fraise
@thfraise.bsky.social

I don't see how they could field those weapons before 2030/2035, which is presumed to be our next year of maximum danger. Also, with what budget, and to the sacrifice of which other programs? The problem is a bit different for France, but timeline issues are not different.

Thomas Fraise
@thfraise.bsky.social

Interesting story about (likely US?) efforts to slow down a (likely the Iranian) nuclear program through cyber-sabotage of physics simulation sofwares. www.zetter-zeroday.com/experts-conf...

zetter-zeroday.comExperts Confirm the Fast16 Malware Was Sabotaging Nuclear Weapons Tests, Likely in IranFast16 didn't predate Stuxnet but was contemporaneous with it. It also wasn't aimed at altering nuclear weapons but was simply feeding false data to engineers about the nuclear detonation tests they w...
Thomas Fraise
@thfraise.bsky.social

For The Conservation, I explore what the evolution of cyber-offensive capabilities reveals about the nature of the nuclear deterrence gamble. AI won't "hack the bomb" tomorrow, but normal operation in the future may well depend on luck. theconversation.com/hacking-the-...

theconversation.comHacking the bomb? What Claude Mythos AI reveals about the gamble of nuclear deterrenceAI-powered cyber-security: the rise of new frontier platforms like Mythos highlights nuclear arsenals’ potential weak spots, and complicates the gambles inherent in nuclear deterrence.
Thomas Fraise
@thfraise.bsky.social

Pour The Conservation, j'explore ce que les évolutions des capacités cyber-offensives révèle des modalités du pari nucléaire. L'IA n'hackera pas la bombe demain, mais son fonctionnement normal dans le futur relève irréductiblement de la chance. theconversation.com/hacker-la-bo...

theconversation.comHacker la bombe ? Ce que l’IA Mythos révèle du pari de la dissuasion nucléaireL’essor des IA telles que Mythos met en lumière la vulnérabilité potentielle des arsenaux nucléaires, et complique le pari de la dissuasion nucléaire.
Thomas Fraise
@thfraise.bsky.social

"We should rename the true crime genre: “The catalogue of ways misogynists and the patriarchy have set up this world to hurt, humiliate and destroy us” – but I get that it’s probably not going to catch on." www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...

theguardian.comShould I Marry a Murderer? review – the amazing woman who spied on her killer fiancé for policeCaroline Muirhead’s whirlwind romance with a Scottish farmer soon took a turn when she discovered his dark secret. This Netflix docuseries is a tale of her bravery, and the shocking stupidity and negl...
Thomas Fraise
@thfraise.bsky.social

Unpopular opinion : on n'est pas obligé de prendre au sérieux n'importe quel théorie du complot issue de r/UFO simplement parce que la Maison Blanche en parle.

Le Parisien@leparisien.fr

27 février 2026, Nouveau-Mexique. Dans le comté de Bernalillo, à Albuquerque, Susan McCasland Wilkerson se presse. Il est 11 heures passées et la retraitée est attendue pour un rendez-vous médical. Elle claque la porte de son domicile, laissant à l’intérieur son mari...

l.leparisien.frEnjeux nucléaires, ovnis, soupçons d’ingérence… Aux États-Unis, la série de disparitions énigmatiques de scientifiques inquiète