James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies
Combating the spread of weapons of mass destruction with training & analysis

The ENP Visiting Fellows Program

Fall 2003 participants in the ENP Visiting Fellows program: (left to right): Melis Mamadaliev, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan); Dinara Turegeldieva, Kazakhstani Scientific Center for Quarantine and Zoonotic Diseases (Almaty, Kazakhstan); Alexey Soldatov, Moscow Engineering Physic Institute (Moscow, Russia); Gulnora Bazarova, Center for Prophylaxis and Quarantine of Most Hazardous Infections (Tashkent, Uzbekistan).

The ENP Visiting Fellows Program is designed to promote the development of a community of nonproliferation specialists in the countries of the former Soviet Union. It provides participants with two to three months of extensive training on nonproliferation issues in the Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) at the Monterey Institute of International Studies. Through a combination of focused tutorials, seminars, and independent research, visiting fellows become acquainted with the full range of historical, political, and technical issues that are essential to working effectively in the nonproliferation field. The series is taught by senior CNS staff members who are experts in these issues. Each fellow is also paired with a senior CNS staff member who serves as a mentor for an individual research project on a topic of the fellow's choice. Fellows deliver final briefings on their research findings at the end of the term for assembled CNS staff. A modest book/periodicals stipend provided by the ENP program allows fellows to compile a relevant library of nonproliferation materials to bring back to their home countries and institutions.

Since its inception in 1991, the program has trained over 140 participants from countries in the former Soviet Union, including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Moldova, Russia, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. Program alumni now occupy leading positions in many NIS foreign ministries, export control agencies, scientific research institutes, media organizations, and universities.

After the fellowship program in Monterey, the ENP maintains close contact with its former visiting fellows throughout the NIS by bringing them into its Core Group of NIS nonproliferation specialists and helping them develop professional contacts with the larger nonproliferation community in the United States and Europe. To this end, the ENP program publishes a quarterly Russian-language newsletter, Vestnik, on the activities of CNS Core Group members, CNS news, and nonproliferation education.