Christopher Ford

Christopher A. Ford served until September 2008 as United States Special Representative for Nuclear Nonproliferation, and prior to that as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State responsible for arms control, nonproliferation, and disarmament verification and compliance policy.  Prior to joining the Bush Administration, Dr. Ford served as Minority Counsel and then General Counsel to the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) in the wake of the September 2001 terrorist attacks.  His previous service on various Senate committee staffs included periods as Staff Director and Chief Counsel to the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, Chief Investigative Counsel to the Governmental Affairs Committee, national security advisor to Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), and an investigative lawyer for the investigation led by Senator Fred Thompson (R-TN) into campaign finance abuses during the 1996 presidential election campaign.  Dr. Ford also served briefly as Assistant Counsel to the Intelligence Oversight Board at the White House in 1996.  He is also an intelligence officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve, holding the rank of Lieutenant Commander, as well as an ordained chaplain in the Prajna Mountain Order of (Soto) Zen Buddhism. 

Dr. Ford is the author of The Mind of Empire: China's History and Modern Foreign Relations (University Press of Kentucky, 2010), as well as The Admirals' Advantage: U.S. Navy Operational Intelligence in World War II and the Cold War (Naval Institute Press, 2005).   He is also the author of numerous articles on topics ranging from nonproliferation and disarmament to comparative law, from Chinese strategic culture to intelligence oversight, and from Islamic international law to international legal history.  He is also a contributing editor to The New Atlantis magazine.

Dr. Ford received his undergraduate degree summa cum laude in Government/International Relations from Harvard in 1989, his doctorate from Oxford University in 1992, and his law degree from the Yale Law School in 1995.  He was the recipient of several prizes and awards for academic excellence, including the Emerson and Scharps prizes at Yale, the Bonaparte, Hoopes, and Firth prizes at Harvard. Dr. Ford was also awarded a Rhodes Scholarship.

Dr. Ford manages and writes for the New Paradigms Forum website, which he founded in 2009, and which features discussion forum blogs and numerous essays on issues including nuclear weapons, space security, cyberwarfare, and counter-terrorism.  Click HERE to visit Dr. Ford's website.

Dr. Ford's speeches, papers, and presentations as U.S. Special Representative for Nuclear Nonproliferation and as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Verification, Compliance, and Implementation are available upon request. 

Download a list of Dr. Ford's publications here.

The Mind of Empire: China's History and Modern Foreign Relations