Carmen E. MacDougall
Senior Vice President
Rewriting the Narrative on Nuclear Weapons
- Nuclear
- Public Education
Moving away from outdated thinking on nuclear weapons
Challenge
Even though people prefer a world without nuclear weapons, the dominant narrative that "nukes keep us safe" has allowed dangerous policies to go unchecked for decades.
Action
Research U.S. public beliefs on nuclear weapons and equip experts and allies with a narrative that makes risk reduction and disarmament socially, culturally, and politically salient.
Results
Growing public sentiment that the nuclear status quo is risky, and nuclear weapons are a liability and not an asset to our security.
Humans are hardwired to respond to storytelling. Narratives and the stories that underpin them are powerful tools that help people understand how the world works. Although most Americans would prefer to live in a world without nuclear weapons, they are beholden to the dominant, deterrence-based narrative that America’s nuclear weapons keep us safe and that nuclear weapons are a necessary evil in a dangerous world. This dominant narrative upholds policies that favor more nuclear weapons spending and arms racing.
To change policy, we have to change the narrative.
To do that, we have to deeply understand public beliefs and attitudes about nuclear weapons—and that starts with research. NTI has invested in public opinion research since its inception, but since 2021, NTI has been investing in deep analysis, partnering with practitioners using best-in-class consumer and social change research methodologies, and sharing the findings with allies and partners. Specifically:
- In 2021, NTI examined how Americans see nuclear weapons and identified the persuadable supermajority on nuclear disarmament. Findings were derived, in part, from 90-minute, one-on-one interviews with a cross section of Americans as well as randomized controlled trials of content with more than 10,000 participants.
- In 2022, NTI examined how Americans encounter nuclear weapons in media and culture, with a special focus on the previously identified persuadable supermajority. We identified distinct audience segments and their cultural and media consumption habits. The research involved following a panel of tens of thousands of Americans for several months across TV, online searches, YouTube, and online news platforms.
Most recently, NTI partnered with Ploughshares to release a new, research-backed narrative rooted in a set of core values held by a supermajority of Americans. Rewriting the Narrative on Nuclear Weapons: A Research-Based Guide to Building a Safer Future provides insights on how to implement the new narrative to shift public beliefs and build political will in support of nuclear risk reduction and future without nuclear weapons at a time when nuclear weapons threats are on the rise and attention to the issue has dwindled.
NTI and Ploughshares, working with social-change agency Metropolitan Group, reviewed existing studies, conducted original research that included focus groups and a news media audit with ReThink Media, and engaged stakeholders from across the nuclear risk-reduction and disarmament field.
Taken together, NTI is working with experts, cultural leaders, partners on Capitol Hill, influential storytellers, and more to shift away from outdated narratives that perpetuate a reliance on nuclear deterrence. Meaningful, lasting progress on nuclear threats is only possible when the public is demanding that leaders support nuclear risk reduction and, eventually, a world without nuclear weapons.