James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS)
CNS News & Views:
October 2018
 
OP_38_cover_sat_imagery
Image courtesy of Planet
Geo4Nonpro 2.0

CNS broke several international news stories in major outlets-including the New York Times, National Public Radio, and the Wall Street Journal-using imagery analysis crowdsourced on Geo4Nonpro, a platform we developed to share open-source geographic information of known or suspected WMD sites. 

Occasional Paper #38, from lead author Melissa Hanham, discusses the evolution of this platform, its newest features, and the central role that it played in many of the headline-grabbing discoveries made in Syria, North Korea, Iran, and Russia.

US Air Force photo by Michael Peterson/released
It is Time to Update the President's Nuclear Command Authority

There is a common belief that presidents possess complete and unfettered freedom to use nuclear weapons. Although this is not entirely correct, there are few barriers to such action. Nevertheless, debates about the extent of presidential authority should have begun long ago, soon after the end of the Cold War. 

Writing in the National Interest, Senior Fellows Miles Pomper and Nikolai Sokov discuss practical proposals to address this issue. 

  Read more.
The Conversation:
Academic rigor, journalistic flair
Concern over EPA Proposal to Lower Radiation Levels

Writing in The Conversation, Scientist-in-Residence Ferenc Dalnoki-Veress argues that a proposed change to the EPA's regulation concerning acceptable levels of radiation is not backed by science, and may only serve the financial benefit of industry stakeholders. 
 
The book is available to download from the HBS website.
New Book: The Crisis of Nuclear Disarmament and Arms Control 

VCDNP Senior Research Associate Ulrich Kühn edited a new volume, The Crisis of Nuclear Disarmament and Arms Control: Diagnosis and Future Concepts, published by Heinrich Böll Stiftung (HBS) in cooperation with the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg.

The volume marks the capstone of HBS's Nuclear Expert Talks: Next Generation (N.E.X.T.) Project, and includes articles by a select number of international midcareer scholars and experts on nuclear matters from Europe, Russia, and the United States.


"The fabric of US-Russian nuclear arms reductions is unraveling," write Senior Fellow Nikolai Sokov and CNS Director William Potter for the Toda Peace Institute Policy Brief

" Amid a regional standoff between Saudi Arabia and Iran and provocative comments from Saudi leaders, some observers worry that the program is little more than a pretext for developing nuclear weapons. Others, however, point to what they see as legitimate peaceful motivations for the program."

Raymond Zilinskas
Join the CNS Team

CNS currently has three employment opportunities in our headquarters in Monterey, California: 
  • Director for the Eurasia Nonproliferation Program
  • Director for the Chemical and Biological Weapons Nonproliferation Program/Senior Scientist
  • Postdoctoral/Sabbatical Fellow
Program director positions are full-time staff positions. The fellowship is a term-limited, full-time position that will last nine to 12 months.