James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS)
CNS News & Views:
May 2016
Dr. William Potter and Dr. William Perry, with CIF coordinator Masako Toki, present the CIF certificate to the students and teacher from Russia's Gymnasium No 41, Novouralsk.
High school students discuss nuclear dangers, solutions, with Dr. William Perry
Students and teachers from sixteen high schools in Japan, Russia, and the United States participated in a conference on nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament convened as part of the CNS project, the Critical Issues Forum (CIF) . The 2016 conference featured former US Secretary of Defense William J. Perry as well as a statement by Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, and was the culmination of these extraordinary students' research, inquiry, and discussion into these challenging issues over the past several months. 

The conference took place April 15-16 at Santa Catalina School in Monterey.

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Asst. Secrety of State Thomas Countryman 
Image courtesy of CSIS_Flickr
DC office holds short course in "Issues in Nonproliferation" for USG personnel
From April 11-15, 2016, CNS Deputy Director Leonard Spector led a one-week course held in the CNS Washington, DC, office, for twenty mid-level US officials. Prominent guest speakers included Assistant Secretary of State for Nonproliferation Tom Countryman, former Under-Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Robert Joseph, and former Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Analysis Thomas Fingar.  

CNS conducts four such courses on nonproliferation affairs annually, sponsored by the Department of Defense. The next course, "Issues in Chemical and Biological Weapon Nonproliferation" will be held June 27 to July 1.

For more about the DC short courses, contact Deputy Director Spector.


MIIS hosts US-China conference on arms control
On April 11 and 12, governmental and non-governmental experts from the United States and China met for a conference at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies focused on international nonproliferation issues including collaboration on nuclear security, hindering the illicit trafficking of WMD-related materials, efforts to move forward on nuclear disarmament, and the insecurity caused by North Korea's nuclear and missile development. 

Participants in this year's eighth conference included senior representatives from the US State Department and Department of Energy, the National Security Council, and academics from US military academies, as well as various non-governmental experts. Former US Under Secretary of Defense Walter Slocombe also attended. From the Chinese side, China's ministries of foreign affairs and national defense were well-represented, as were experts from the academic and NGO sectors.  

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Miles A. Pomper, Elena Sokova, Ibrahim Abdulmajeed, Margarita Sevcik, Hubert Foy
CNS holds first nuclear security capacity-building workshop in Africa
On April 18-22, CNS and the  African Center for Science and International Security  (AFRICSIS) conducted their first joint capacity-building workshop on nuclear security in Africa. The workshop was hosted by AFRICSIS, an independent, science-based non-profit organization established by Hubert Foy, a MIIS alumnus  (MAIPS'10), in partnership with the  Ghana Atomic Energy Commission .

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Senior Fellow Nikolai Sokov presents Fellow Jeaneth Kabini with her certificate
Six Visiting Fellows Complete Nonproliferation Training at CNS 
Fellows from East Asia, South Asia, South America, and Africa completed their intensive nonproliferation training at CNS last week, which included a lecture series specifically tailored for the CNS Visiting Fellows Program as well as selected MIIS courses. 

Their research projects were as diverse as their backgrounds, covering topics including the Iran deal, radiological terrorism, Chinese nuclear policy, a highly enriched uranium-free zone in Latin America, arms control in the Middle East, and nuclear security education.


Farnaz Alimehri is a regular contributor to Georgetown Security Review
Analysis: Are proliferation and regional nonproliferation both stagnating?
Two new analyses from Leonard S. Spector and Farnaz Alimehri, respectively, examine whether we are facing a proliferation "plateau" and a similar stasis in efforts to create a WMD-free zone in the Middle East. 

Read Spector's " A Proliferation Plateau," published in  Arms Control Today.



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