Recent and upcoming nonproliferation activities, events, and announcements involving the CNS center, staff, and programs.

Updated: Nov 3, 2011

CNS Hosts Roundtable on Libyan and Syrian WMDs

On November 2, the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies co-hosted a roundtable discussion with the Henry L. Stimson Center on Special Weapon Programs in Libya and Syria during Civil Turmoil: Assessing Risks and Finding Solutions.

The event took place at the Henry L. Stimson Center and featured CNSDC Executive Director Leonard Spector, Senior Fellow Amy Smithson, and Visiting Fellow Bilal Saab, as well as several notable Middle East policy experts, including Stimson Center president Ellen Laipson.

The discussion touched on a variety of aspects of the future of Syria and Libya's chemical and biological weapons programs, including current trend lines in weapons development, potential loss of control over chemical weapons during the civil strife in Syria, motivations for a possible new government in Syria to adhere to follow Libya's lead and adhere to the Biological Weapons Convention and Chemical Weapons Convention, and policy options for the United States going forward.

The event was well-attended, with representatives from the Departments of State and Energy, the National Nuclear Security Administration, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, the Civilian Research and Development Foundation, and Booz Allen Hamilton, among others.