ArmsControlWonk.com

And, while we’re doing public service announcements for the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, let me remind readers that CNS is again hosting the Doreen and Jim McElvany 2010 Nonproliferation Challenge.

First prize is 10 Gs. Seriously, who can’t use a little extra baksheesh these days?

The due date is 11:59 PM (Eastern time, North America), May 31, 2010:

The James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) at the Monterey Institute of International Studies strives to combat the spread of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons to state and non-state actors by training the next generation of nonproliferation specialists and disseminating timely information based on cutting-edge research and analysis.

In order to spur new thinking and policy initiatives to address today’s most urgent proliferation threats, CNS and its journal, the Nonproliferation Review, created an essay competition to identify and publish the most outstanding new scholarly papers in the nonproliferation field. Our priority is to generate new insights and specific recommendations for resolving today’s nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons challenges, including those involving both state and non-state actors.

Eligibility

This competition is open to persons worldwide, except for current faculty, staff, interns, and students of the Monterey Institute of International Studies, past winners of this competition, and anyone involved in reviewing or judging submissions. To be eligible for the student prize, an entrant must be enrolled at a college or university at the time of submission. A team of authors comprising one or more students and non-students is not eligible for the student prize.

• Students are eligible for the grand prize.

How to Enter

On or before May 31, 2010, e-mail your entry to essaycontest [at] miis.edu. A valid entry consists of two parts:

1. a completed official cover sheet [Word DOC] indicating the name(s) of the author(s), address, telephone number(s), e-mail address(es), indication of status as a student at the time of entry (yes or no, undergraduate or graduate), date of birth, title of the submission, and a one paragraph biography of the author(s) (the cover sheet is the only place where this information should appear); and

2. the submitted essay.

Past Grand Prize Winners are Ward Wilson for The Myth of Nuclear Deterrence and Anne Harrington de Santana.

Think you can do better?

Well, this is very interesting. You can now get an MA in nuclear terrorism. Imagine the class projects!

Alright, I kid, but the Monterey Institute has a new degree in “Nonproliferation and Terrorism Studies” that brings together the best of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) and the Monterey Terrorism Research and Education Program (MonTREP):

The Monterey Institute is launching a new M.A. degree in Nonproliferation and Terrorism Studies (MANPTS). The first of its kind in the United States, it prepares students for careers in analyzing, preventing, and responding to terrorist threats and the spread of weapons of mass destruction. Courses for this degree will be taught by faculty of the Graduate School of International Policy and Management; by policy, scientific, and technical specialists in the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) and the Monterey Terrorism Research and Education Program (MonTREP); and by experts invited from international organizations, government agencies, the private sector, and leading universities all over the world. Students in this M.A. program may also gain practical experience through internships at international organizations or work as research assistants at CNS and MonTREP. Placement assistance from our Center for Advising and Career Services helps graduating students find professional positions in government agencies and international organizations dedicated to combating terrorism or the spread of WMD as well as private firms specializing in security research, corporate security, or related fields.

I am not sure I would have called it MANPTS (Man Points?), but a rose by any other name … If you are interested, there relevant information is here.

As you can see from the poster, the University of California-San Diego is hosting its annual Public Policy and Nuclear Threats course from July 16–August 6, 2010:

A rapidly evolving nuclear landscape poses major challenges and opportunities for the United States. The most critical of these issues include the growing threat of nuclear proliferation and terrorism, the renaissance of civilian nuclear power, and the pressing need to renew the country’s aging intellectual infrastructure of specialists equipped to address America’s nuclear weapons policies.

The Public Policy and Nuclear Threats course is designed to cover important issues in U.S. nuclear strategy and policy, supported by an understanding of the scientific foundations of this policy. This course aims to give participants the knowledge and analytic tools to contribute to the debate on future U.S. nuclear policy.

The course features lectures, discussions, debates and mini-workshops on a wide range of issues. Participants will attend talks by distinguished researchers, academics, policy officials, and operational specialists from the University of California system and other leading universities, the Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories, the International Atomic Energy Agency, and federal government agencies dealing with nuclear policy, threat, detection, and safeguard issues.

[snip]

For more information about any aspect of the program, please email igcc-recruiting [at] ucsd.edu.

The deadline is March 26.

I’ve participated the last two years; it’s been fun.

The big draw, though, is Linton Brooks, who is set to appear as a scholar-in-residence again. You can learn more about nuclear weapons by hanging out with Linton for two weeks than just about any other way I can imagine.

The fact that you can do so in sunny La Jolla is just gratuitous.

For regular readers who also happen to be pre-doctoral or post-doctoral acadmics, the Stanton Foundation has funded a series of fellowships in nuclear security. Here is a list of participating institutions:

✽ Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA

✽ Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Washington, DC

✽ Center for Security and International Cooperation Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA

✽ Council of Foreign Relations, New York, NY

✽ Institute for International and Strategic Studies, London, UK

✽ RAND, Santa Monica, CA/Pittsburgh, PA/Washington, DC

(For reasons that totally baffle me, the Carnegie Endowment has not posted its announcement yet.)

Be mindful: the due dates, application materials and salary vary from one place to the next, sometimes greatly. (The salary range, for example, runs from the Harvard discount of $20,000 over ten months for a pre-doctoral fellow up to $100,000 over a full year for post-docs at some other institutions. In fairness, academic institutions like Harvard and Stanford do have equity issues that need to be respected.)

As a colleague at one of the institutions noted, “It’s a great opportunity for young academics, and pretty much everyone who’d be of interest probably reads the blog.”

Well, there you go, stick that on your curriculum vitae!

Wouldn’t it be spectacular if we promoted nonproliferation talks the way we promote Monster Truck Rallies, Metal concerts and the other staples of my Midwestern upbringing?

WEDNESDAY! WEDNESDAY! WEDNESDAY!

ONE DAY ONLY.

HOUSTON WOOD. DAVID ALBRIGHT. JEFFREY LEWIS.

YOU’LL PAY FOR THE WHOLE SEAT, BUT YOU WILL ONLY USE THE EDGE.

Yeah, well.

Houston Wood is giving a talk at the Woodrow Wilson Center tomorrow on the role of gas centrifuges in nonproliferation. Which, to my mind, is even more exciting than when Metallica opened for Ozzy Osbourne at the Peoria Civic Center. (YouTube is really letting me down, here.)

And, the event is free, so you won’t feel bad about only using the edge of your seat.

The History of the Gas Centrifuge and Its Role in Nuclear Proliferation

January 20 2010, 4:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.

Uranium enrichment capability and its proliferation are among the most important issues for arms control specialists today. Thanks in part to the network of Pakistani nuclear scientist A.Q. Khan, the gas centrifuge has become one of the most widely used uranium enrichment tools in the world. University of Virginia Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Houston G. Wood will discuss his ongoing research on the history of the gas centrifuge and its role in nuclear proliferation. Joining him will be David Albright, president of the Institute for Science and International Security, and *Jeffrey Lewi director of the Nuclear Strategy and Nonproliferation Initiative at the New America Foundation.

Houston Wood is professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at the University of Virginia. His areas of expertise include centrifugation, nuclear non-proliferation and heart pumps. He has published more than 100 articles in books, journals, conference proceedings and reports. Before joining the UVA faculty, he worked as a development engineer (1967-1973) at Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant (ORGDP) in the area of uranium enrichment, and then as the manager of the centrifuge physics department (1977-1981). Wood earned his B.A. and M.S. degrees in mathematics from Mississippi State University, and his Ph.D. in applied mathematics from the University of Virginia.

David Albright is president of the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) in Washington, D.C. Prior to founding ISIS, he worked as a senior staff scientist at the Federation of American Scientists and as a member of the research staff of Princeton University’s Center for Energy and Environmental Studies. Albright has many publications, and received a 1992 Olive Branch Award for a series of articles he wrote, along with Mark Hibbs, on the Iraqi nuclear weapons program for the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Albright cooperated actively with the IAEA Action Team from 1992 until 1997, focusing on analyses of Iraqi documents and past procurement activities, and was the first non-governmental inspector of the Iraqi nuclear program in June 1996. Albright holds a Masters of Science in physics from Indiana University and a Masters of Science in mathematics from Wright State University.

Jeffrey Lewis is director of the Nuclear Strategy and Nonproliferation Initiative at the New America Foundation as well as a research scholar at the Center for International and Security Studies at the University of Maryland School of Public Policy (CSSIM). He is the author of Minimum Means of Reprisal: China’s Search for Security in the Nuclear Age, and founded and maintains the leading blog on nuclear arms control and nonproliferation, ArmsControlWonk.com. Before joining the New America Foundation, Lewis was executive director of the Managing the Atom Project at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. Lewis earned 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.

I will be making comments along the lines of those in my Bulletin article, A Crisis of Confidence, in which I argued the rapid diffusion of gas centrifuge technology has resulted in a self defeating panic about the future of the nonproliferation regime.

Sen. Richard Lugar and former Sen. Sam Nunn near Shchuchye, Russia in 2007 (AP Photo/Douglas Birch)

The Arms Control Association is holding their annual “Arms Control Person of the Year” contest.

Vote for the 2009 Arms Control Person(s) of the Year

As 2009 nears its end, it is time to recognize some of the most important arms control developments and achievements of the past 12 months. To help do that, the staff of the Arms Control Association have nominated several well-known and some lesser-known individuals and institutions for the title of “2009 Arms Control Person(s) of the Year.”

You decide the winner by casting your vote here by January 8.

And the nominees are:

The governments of the 15 member states of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) for achieving the entry into force of the 2006 Convention on Small Arms and Light Weapons in September when Benin became the ninth state to deposit its instruments of ratification. The Convention bans arms transfers by member states with exceptions for the legitimate defense and security needs, law enforcement, and participation in peace support operations. See .

Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) for his tireless efforts on behalf of landmine victims worldwide and for his role in convincing the Obama administration to launch a more thorough review of U.S. policy on the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty and for pressing it to join the treaty. See .

The law enforcement authorities of the United Arab Emirates and Thailand for their successful interdiction of illicit North Korean arms shipments bound for unstable regions of the world in July and December, respectively. The interdictions were carried out in accordance with UN Security Council resolution 1874, which mandates an intensified inspection regime to prevent proliferation to and from North Korea, calls for enhanced financial restrictions against North Korea and North Korean firms, and requires a nearly comprehensive arms embargo on the country. See .

Ambassador Roberto García Moritán of Argentina for chairing the open-ended working group on a legally binding Arms Trade Treaty. His work helped lead UN member states to adopt a process leading to the conclusion of a treaty in 2012. See .

The governments of Malawi and Burundi for becoming the 27th and 28th states to ratify the 1996 Treaty of Pelindaba on July 15 and triggering the pact’s formal entry into force. The treaty establishes a nuclear-weapon-free zone (NWFZ) in Africa by prohibiting the possession, development, manufacture, testing, or deployment of nuclear weapons on the African continent and associated islands. See .

The intelligence services of Britain, France, and the United States for successfully identifying Iran’s clandestine effort to build the Fordow Nuclear Enrichment Plant near Qom, which raised further questions regarding the purpose of Iran’s program and led to the application of IAEA safeguards at the site. See .

Senator Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) for his long-running support for U.S. financial contributions to assist with the construction of Russia’s Shchuchye chemical weapons demilitarization complex, which began work this year to neutralize neutralize about 2 million shells and warheads stored nearby that are loaded with VX, sarin and soman. Under the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention, Russia and the United States are required to destroy their chemical weapons by 2012—a deadline neither will likely meet. See .

U.S. President Barack Obama for his April 5 commitment to achieving concrete steps toward a world without nuclear weapons, his September 23 pledge to the UN General Assembly to “complete a Nuclear Posture Review that opens the door to deeper cuts and reduces the role of nuclear weapons,” and for proposing and winning UN Security Council approval of Resolution 1887, which calls for action on a comprehensive set of nonproliferation, disarmament, and nuclear materials security measures. See and .

Former German foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier and new German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle for their respective calls for the withdrawal of the U.S. tactical nuclear weapons deployed in their country. Steinmeier told the German magazine Der Spiegel April 10 that “these weapons are militarily obsolete today” and promised that he would take steps to ensure that the remaining U.S. warheads “are removed from Germany.” On October 25, Westerwelle said the new German government would “enter talks with our allies so that the last of the nuclear weapons still stationed in Germany, relics of the Cold War, can finally be removed.” See .

Japan’s new Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada for his call for states that possess nuclear weapons to adopt no first use policies and for the recognition that “[w]e do not necessarily need a nuclear umbrella against the nuclear threat of North Korea. I think conventional weapons are enough to deal with it.” See .

Russian Foreign Ministry security and disarmament chief Anatoly Antonov and U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Verification and Arms Control Rose Gottemoeller for their efforts to negotiate a follow-on to the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty that would establish lower, verifiable limits on strategic deployed warheads and delivery vehicles. See

Or, you can write in a candidate, but you can only vote once.

Click here to vote!

Past winners include (2008) Norway’s Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and his ministry’s Director-General for Security Policy and the High North Steffen Kongstad , and (2007) U.S. Congressmen Peter Visclosky (D-Ind.) and David Hobson (R-Ohio)

I am shocked, and appalled, that Barack Obama is nominated, let alone leading in the early votes.

Look, I voted for Obama for President and desperately want to see him succeed — but he hasn’t done anything yet. He gave a nice speech in Prague. He secured passage of a constructive Security Council Resolution (1887). But the big ticket items — START, CTBT and the Nuclear Posture Review are not done and, frankly, the early signs are not very encouraging. .

I know, Obama’s early days have been complicated by financial collapse, multiple wars and a bunch of tea-baggers who have burrowed into the Executive Branch and hijacked the Congressional GOP. I have every expectation that Barack Obama will figure out how to deal with these challenges. And, when he does, I will happily vote for him as Arms Control Person of the Year. But he hasn’t, at least not yet.

As for my vote, it was a tough call. But since my vote has a protest quality to it, I narrowed to two candidates: Senators Richard Lugar and Patrick Leahy.

A vote for Senator Richard Lugar is appealing because he is nominated for helping Russia begin to neutralize stocks of chemical weapons. In a year when a US President wins the Nobel Peace Prize for talking about eliminating weapons, I want to reward someone for actually doing just that.

A vote for Patrick Leahy, on the other hand, is sheer protest. Leahy’s advocacy is admirable, but in truth I recoil at the idea of naming Barack Obama “Arms Control Person of the Year” in the same year his Administration announced that it would not sign the Landmine Treaty — subsequent backpeddling not withstanding.

It was a difficult call, but in the end, I voted for Senator Richard Lugar. The vote contains enough protest at the premature accolades to sate me, while nonetheless rewarding a worthy person with a lifetime of leadership on these issues for a genuine achievement in its own right — the destruction of thousands of abhorrent weapons.

I am off to Beijing for the next week, to participate in the Seventh US-China Conference on Arms Control, Disarmament and Nonproliferation, co-hosted by the China Arms Control and Disarmament Association and the Monterey Institute’s James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies.

The image, obviously, is not from CACDA.

A free beer to anyone who can properly identify the name of this venerable Beijing watering-hole, redeemable in person and on location.

Greetings from Monterey, California and the 20th Anniversary Conference of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies.

(After convalescing in the hot tub last night, I made it half way through John Steinbeck’s Cannery Row and a demi bouteille of Ventana Pinot Noir. That was very civilized.)

It is a treat to be at a conference that, rather than being topical, is focused on pedagogy and, in particular, the role of simulations. That may sound odd, but I am always up for a change of pace. I am not sure Bill Potter intended so much emphasis on this particular topic, but a parade of students hailed the simulations at CNS for preparing them for the real world. And Stanford’s Scott Sagan gave a great talk on the role of simulations in his teaching. (I had the great pleasure of participating in a UVA seminar hosted by one of Scott’s former students. It was every bit as fun as Scott made it sound in his talk.)

Anyway, like wargaming, the use of simulations is a topic I wish I knew more about.

Tomorrow, I’ll participate on the panel Educating the Public: The Role of Foundations, NGOs and the Media with Sandy Spector and Charlie Curtis. Expect a lot of funny stories about the blog. Well, I think they are funny, at any rate.

Andalo. Not only a beautiful ski resort in the Italian Alps but home to the ISODARCO Winter School.

This year’s school is on ‘The Road to Nuclear Zero and Arms Control’. It’ll be an opportunity for an informal but in-depth examination of the practical path towards a world free of nuclear weapons.

Part of what makes Andalo different is that unlike other ‘schools’, faculty and participants mix freely. It’s a great opportunity to meet some of the big names in the field and, if we’re honest about it, that’s no bad thing from a career point of view. This year’s faculty is a virtual A to Z of non-proliferation and disarmament stars from Arbartov to Zanders.

Andalo is also a genuinely global event with like-minded participants from all over the world. So are you interested?

If so, you have until November 16 to apply.

There are funds to provide partial travel grants to a limited number of students. Say so on your application form if you would need one.

Both Jeffrey and I will be there. In fact, I’m sure Jeffrey will buy a grappa for every wonk reader who shows up.

Adam Stulberg and Bill Potter, with the support of Carl Robichaud at the Carnegie Corporation of New York — three of my favorite people — have created something called the Program on Strategic Stability Evaluation or POSSE.

POSSE will bring together a network of younger scholars, including Chinese and Russian participants, interested in strategic stability.

You know, it’s like PONI but … well, insert your own joke.

Program on Strategic Stability Evaluation (POSSE)

Call for Applications

Professor Adam N. Stulberg of the Center for International Strategy, Technology & Policy at Georgia Tech and Professor William C. Potter of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) at the Monterey Institute of International Studies invite applications to participate in the newly formed Program on Strategic Stability Evaluation (POSSE). This joint initiative, generously supported by the Carnegie Corporation of New York (CCNY), seeks to promote international scholarship on issues of strategic stability under deeply reduced or eliminated nuclear arsenals. The objectives of the program are to: a) forge a global network of young scholars on strategic stability; b) increase interaction both between members of the network and between the network and policy practitioners; c) fill knowledge and methodological gaps concerning analysis of strategic stability; and d) identify the means to advance and sustain nuclear arms reductions and disarmament under changing strategic landscapes.

Ideal candidates will be junior faculty, post-doctoral researchers, advanced graduate students, or young government analysts whose research or professional work is related to nuclear arms issues, deterrence theory, and strategic stability. Our intention is to build a small but diverse cohort that includes scholars and analysts from China, Russia, and the United States.

Participation will involve writing a number of policy memos and publishable papers over the course of two years, as well as making regular contributions to a moderated blog on select issues of deep nuclear reductions and strategic stability and participating in four workshops during 2010 and 2011. The first workshop, which will address alternative analytical frameworks for minimum deterrence, will be held on March 30-31, 2010 following the 2010 Sam Nunn/Bank of America Policy Forum in Atlanta, Georgia that will examine challenges and opportunities associated with the “road to zero nuclear weapons.” Members will receive honoraria for their participation, and all travel costs to/from the workshops will be paid by the program. They also will have the opportunity to interact closely with internationally renowned experts and senior policy practitioners, who will provide feedback on the draft papers.

Interested individuals should send a letter of inquiry along with a Curriculum Vitae and a list of three references to Bernard Gourley via email at: bernard.gourley [at] inta.gatech.edu or by fax to (404) 894-1903. Requests for additional information also can be sent to these addresses. Applications received prior to January 1, 2010 will be given special consideration.