ArmsControlWonk.com

I started ArmsControlWonk.com in March 2004 for inchoate reasons. Over time, I’ve constructed an elaborate post-hoc rationalization for the site focusing on four goals:

1. To report items of interest that wouldn’t make it into the New York Times,
2. Place arms control related developments into context and correct lousy reporting,
3. To explore the foundations of arms control and other cooperative security strategies, and
4. Finally, to amuse myself and others.

Toward that end, I asked Jane Vaynman to join the blog in September 2006. Jane will cover arms control issues from Moscow, where she is a Fulbright Scholar. Paul Kerr, a Research Analyst at the Arms Control Association, also blogged here from October 2004 – September 2006. Paul now maintains his own blog, TotalWonkerr, but occasionally crossposts here.

The opinions expressed here are our own and not those of our respective employers.

As I contemplate the future of this blog, I am always eager for feedback or tips. Comments are welcome, provided they are constructive and civil. Thanks for reading.

Jeffrey Lewis (resume) is Director of the Nuclear Strategy and Nonproliferation Initiative at the New America Foundation. Dr. Lewis is the author of Minimum Means of Reprisal: China’s Search for Security in the Nuclear Age (MIT Press, 2007). Dr. Lewis is a research scholar at the Center for International and Security Studies at the University of Maryland School of Public Policy (CSSIM) and a Contributor to the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Dr. Lewis also founded and maintains the leading blog on nuclear arms control and nonproliferation, ArmsControlWonk.com.

Before joining the New America Foundation, Dr. Lewis was Executive Director of the Managing the Atom Project at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. Previously, he served as a Research Fellow at the Center for International and Security Studies at the University of Maryland School of Public Policy (CISSM), Executive Director of the Association of Professional Schools of International Affairs, a Visiting Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and with the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy.

Dr. Lewis received his Ph.D. in Policy Studies (International Security and Economic Policy) from the University of Maryland and his B.A. in Philosophy and Political Science from Augustana College in Rock Island, Ill.

This is my personal blog — it is not affiliated with the American Strategy Program or the New America Foundation. The opinions expressed here are mine alone.

James Acton is a lecturer at the Centre for Science and Security Studies in the Department of War Studies at King’s College London. Dr Acton’s research interests focus on topics at the interface of the technical and the political, including nuclear disarmament, arms control verification and IAEA safeguards. He is co-author of the upcoming International Institute of Strategic Studies paper on nuclear disarmament.

Dr Acton’s previous research projects include analyses of IAEA safeguards in Iran, the detection of clandestine weaponization activities and novel forms of radiological terrorism. He has published in Survival and the Nonproliferation Review. He teaches MA-level courses at King’s on ‘The Science of Security’ and ‘Science, Security and Technology Policy’.

Before joining King’s, Dr Acton was the science and technology researcher at the Verification Research, Training and Information Centre (VERTIC), where he was involved in the UK-Norway dialogue on verifying the dismantlement of warheads. He holds a PhD in theoretical physics from Cambridge University’s Cavendish Laboratory, where he has worked as a research associate.

Readers often remark about the look and feel of my blog. The entire operation, from database to hosting, is a gift from my friend Greg. He runs a web development shop called hexive (logo at right) that focuses on small businesses, non-profits and one blog.

I’ve known him since we were college roomates.

A few years ago, I was Director of the Association of Professional Schools of International Affairs (APSIA). I inherited a website mess from a very pricey New York firm that shall remain nameless.

Greg came aboard and provided APSIA with a beautiful and functional site at fraction of the cost. He then rescued the Public Policy and International Affairs Program from website purgatory and just recently gave CISSM some new web-tools.

Every time I recommend Greg, he makes me look awesome.

I just wanted to say “thanks.”