Matthew Bolton

Faculty Bio

Expert on the United Nations, multilateral peace and security diplomacy, global disarmament policy and humanitarian assistance in conflict. Worked on 2017 Nobel Peace Prize-winning nuclear disarmament advocacy campaign.

PhD, London School of Economics and Political Science, 2009
Government

MS, London School of Economics and Political Science, 2005
Development Studies (Research)

BA, Graceland University, Lamoni, Iowa, 2001
History and Religion

Research Interest

Matthew Bolton is director of the International Disarmament Institute and professor of political science at Pace University in New York City. He is an expert on global peace and security policy, focusing on multilateral disarmament and arms control policymaking processes. He has a PhD in Government and Master’s in Development Studies from the London School of Economics. Since 2014, Bolton has worked on the UN and New York City advocacy of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), recipient of the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize. He has an honorary doctorate in humane letters from Graceland University. Bolton has published five books, including Political Minefields (I.B. Tauris) and Imagining Disarmament, Enchanting International Relations (Palgrave Pivot). He is currently enrolled in a Master's in Environmental Studies at SUNY's College of Environmental Science and Forestry.

Past Courses

INT 198: Glbl Pltcs of Pce & Soc Jstce
INT 299: Us & Them in Lit & Politics
POL 114: Intro to Intrntl Relations
POL 203: African Politic/Foreign Policy
POL 219: Intrn'l Political Eco & Global
POL 219: Intrn'l Political Eco and Global
POL 297: Glb Pltcs of Dsrmnt Arms Cntrl
POL 303: Politics Workshop: U.N.
POL 303: Workshop: Int'l Organization
POL 325: Conflict Analysis
POL 330: Politics of the Global City
POL 395: Ind Study in Political Studies

Publications

Environmental remediation as social archaeology: Excavating sites contaminated by early nuclear weapons activities in New York City, both literally and hermeneutically
Bolton, M. & Ketterer, K. (2023). https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1758-5899.13197

Human Rights Fallout of Nuclear Detonations: Reevaluating ‘Threshold Thinking’ in Assisting Victims of Nuclear Testing
Bolton, M. (2022). Vol 13 (Issue 1) , pages 76-90. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1758-5899.13042

Addressing the Humanitarian and Environmental Consequences of Atmospheric Nuclear Weapon Tests: A Case Study of UK and US Test Programs at Kiritimati (Christmas) and Malden Islands, Republic of Kiribati
Alexis-Martin, B., Bolton, M., Hawkins, D., Tisch, S. & Mangioni, T. L. (2021). Vol 12 (Issue 1) , pages 106-121. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1758-5899.12913

Addressing the Ongoing Humanitarian and Environmental Consequences of Nuclear Weapons: An Introductory Review
Bolton, M. & Minor, E. (2021). Vol 12 (Issue 1) , pages 81-99. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1758-5899.12892

Global Activism and Humanitarian Disarmament
Bolton, M., Njeri, S. & Benjamin-Britton, T. (2020). Global Activism and Humanitarian Disarmament.New York : Palgrave Macmillan. https://www.dpbolvw.net/click-9158866-12898971?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.springer.com%2Fus%2Fbook%2F9783030276102

Imagining Disarmament, Enchanting International Relations
Bolton, M. (2020). Imagining Disarmament, Enchanting International Relations.New York : Palgrave Pivot. https://www.dpbolvw.net/click-9158866-12898971?url=www.springer.com/us/book/9783030177157

Political Minefields: The Struggle against Automated Violence
Bolton, M. (2020, September). Political Minefields: The Struggle against Automated Violence.London : I.B. Tauris. https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/political-minefields-9781780761596/

Local Peacebuilding in East Africa: The Role of Customary Norms and Institutions in Addressing Pastoralist Conflict in Kenya and Uganda
Welty, E. E., Bolton, M. & Kiptoo, W. (2019). Lanham :Rowman & Littlefield. , pages 61-72.