Travis Wheeler is a Research Associate in the Stimson Center’s South Asia Program, where he manages Stimson’s Nuclear Learning initiative. His research focuses on deterrence, geopolitics, and maritime issues in South Asia and the Indo-Pacific. Wheeler co-edited The Lure and Pitfalls of MIRVs: From the First to the Second Nuclear Age and is a co-editor of the Off Ramps Initiative as well as “Southern (Dis)Comfort,” a Stimson series in partnership with War on the Rocks that unpacks intensifying strategic competition in Southern Asia. His analysis has appeared in The Diplomat, The Fletcher Forum of World Affairs, and War on the Rocks. Wheeler was previously a member of the Center for Strategic & International Studies’ Nuclear Scholars Initiative. Prior to joining the Stimson team, he served as a Senior Policy Advisor at The Institute for Inclusive Security, a Junior Research Fellow at the Center on National Security at Fordham Law, and an independent consultant at Monitor 360, and completed a graduate internship at the New York City Police Department. Wheeler earned an M.A. in Law and Diplomacy from The Fletcher School and a B.A. in Political Science from DePaul University.
Travis Wheeler
Former Research Associate

- @travisdwheeler
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Research & Writing
Southern (Dis)Comfort
“Southern (Dis)Comfort” is a special series from War on the Rocks and the Stimson Center that seeks to unpack the dynamics of intensifying competition—military, economic, diplomatic—in Southern Asia, principally among China, India, Pakistan, and the Un…
20 Years After Pokhran-II: Have Nuclear Weapons Made India More Secure?
In May 1998, India detonated five nuclear devices in the Thar Desert, crossing the threshold from a nuclear-capable to a nuclear-armed state. Indian Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee authorized the tests, fulfilling the Bharatiya Janata Party’s long-time pl…
Economic coercion unlikely to stop Pakistan from backing militants
Earlier this year, the Trump administration suspended most security assistance, including Coalition Support Funds (CSF), to Pakistan and led the charge to place the country on an international terrorism-financing watchlist, beginning next mon…
Does Washington Need to Be Neutral in South Asia?
By Travis Wheeler The American crisis management in South Asia since India and Pakistan tested nuclear devices in May 1998 has had the overriding objectives of preventing crises from escalating to limited warfare, and preventing lim…
Off Ramps from Confrontation in Southern Asia
A collection of analyses of nuclear competition among China, India, and Pakistan
Southern Asia’s Escalating Strategic Competition
Editor’s Note: Welcome to the first installment of “Southern (Dis)Comfort,” a new series from War on the Rocks and the Stimson Center. The series seeks to unpack the dynamics of intensifying competition—military, economic, diplomatic—in Southern Asia,…
Sameer Lalwani and Travis Wheeler’s Op-ed in War on the Rocks on Strategic Competition in South Asia
Editor’s Note: Welcome to the first installment of “Southern (Dis)Comfort,” a new series from War on the Rocks and the Stimson Center. The series seeks to unpack the dynamics of intensifying competition—military, economic, diplomatic—in Southern Asia,…
Creating Online Classrooms to Reduce Nuclear Risk in South Asia
Educate the next generation of strategic analysts to help them reach their own conclusions about nuclear trajectories in South Asia.
Why a Political Settlement in Afghanistan Will Benefit Indo-US Relations
The continuation of the conflict in Afghanistan weakens US leverage over Pakistan, partly due to a continued dependence on Pakistan for air and ground lines of communication into Afghanistan. US national security advisor Lieutenant General H.R. McMaste…
Sameer Lalwani and Travis Wheeler’s Op-Ed in The Wire on Afghanistan
US national security advisor Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster travels to Delhi this weekend (after stops in Kabul and Islamabad) to parley with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and senior Indian officials amidst a major review of Americ…
Stimson Open Online Course: Nuclear South Asia
Nuclear South Asia: A Guide to India, Pakistan, and the Bomb is a free Stimson Open Online Course (SOOC). Nuclear South Asia provides the emerging generation of strategic analysts in India, Pakistan, and elsewhere with a platform to stud…
Stimson’s The Lure and Pitfalls of MIRVs: From the First to the Second Nuclear Age book cited in The Wire
Strategic weapons modernisation in South Asia is increasingly becoming a bone of contention between India and Pakistan. With India recently introducing its first squadron of indigenously produced Tejas fighters – combined with its development of a…
Sameer Lalwani and Travis Wheeler op-ed in War on the Rocks on MIRVs
Some 18 years ago, India and Pakistan conducted successive nuclear tests, joining China as Southern Asia’s three overt nuclear powers and transforming the region into a nuclear trilemma. Both India and Pakistan have developed their arsenals at a measur…
The Second Coming of MIRVs: The Future of Strategic Arms Competition
Some 18 years ago, India and Pakistan conducted successive nuclear tests, joining China as Southern Asia’s three overt nuclear powers and transforming the region into a nuclear trilemma. Both India and Pakistan have developed their arsenals at a measur…
China’s MIRVs: Separating Fact From Fiction
According to the Pentagon, China has started to place multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicles, or MIRVs, on its DF-5B missile. It might place MIRVs on the DF-41 as well. India and Pakistan may well follow China’s lead. The advent…