Director's Welcome Message

July 2007

Since its founding 18 years ago, the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) has worked to reduce the threat posed by the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and to educate and build communities of nonproliferation specialists worldwide. As CNS has grown to become the largest nongovernmental organization of its kind focusing exclusively on proliferation challenges and nonproliferation opportunities, its reach and activities have grown accordingly. The Center now consists of five programs, in three offices—in Monterey, Washington, and Almaty, Kazakhstan—and a large network of international contacts, as well as a growing number of Monterey Institute graduates who have earned Certificates in Nonproliferation Studies. The Center is now widely known as a nexus for nonproliferation education, resources, and policy information. For over nine years, we have published The Nonproliferation Review, the leading international journal in the field, and other significant publications on various nonproliferation topics by international experts and practitioners. Finally, our nonproliferation databases and Center website have become known among analysts, government experts, and the media as reliable sources of objective information on cutting-edge policy issues, as well as a broad range of technological and regime-related questions.

But these products tell only part of the story of our Center's many activities. Experts on our staff and program alumni have participated in many of the most important nonproliferation efforts in recent years. At the 2007 NPT Preparatory Committee, 16 CNS alumni and staff participated on seven different delegations. CNS staff have also worked on background materials or served on preparatory committees for the Chemical Weapons Convention, the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, and the Central Asian Nuclear-Weapons-Free Zone. Numerous CNS alumni put their training to work in international organizations and government offices focusing on weapons of mass destruction issues. Staff members have testified before Congress on questions related to terrorism, illicit nuclear trafficking, chemical weapons, U.S. assistance to Russian weapons dismantlement programs, nonproliferation issues in Asia, and provided background reports and analysis to the media. In addition to drawing on the Center's vast resources to advise policymakers, the Center reaches out to the public through seminars and briefings, both in the United States and abroad. Recent publications from the international experts participating in the Monterey Nonproliferation Strategy Group have helped shape the public debate on a number of issues of current concern. Over the next few years, we plan to expand our Center's reach by using these and other materials to engage in distance-learning opportunities for high school students, undergraduates, and mid-career professionals. In pursuing these projects, we are fortunate to receive the guidance of our International Advisory Board, an expert group composed of U.S. and Russian legislators, senior nonproliferation diplomats, policy experts, and business executives. Using these contacts, the Center hopes to fulfill its mission of educating the next generation of nonproliferation specialists while building an international community of persons interested in and informed about nonproliferation issues.

I hope that our website succeeds in serving as a place where experts and novices alike can learn more about existing proliferation threats and opportunities to combat them through innovative and cooperative policy initiatives. I encourage you to contact our Center's staff with your questions or for further information about its many programs and publications.

Sincerely,

William C. Potter
Director
James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies and
Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies and
Sam Nunn and Richard Lugar Professor of Nonproliferation Studies
Monterey Institute of International Studies