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Middlebury Institute of International Studies
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International Advisory Council Annual Meeting 2020 |
High-level diplomats, former government officials, international civil servants, funders, and staff joined the International Advisory Council (IAC)’s Annual Meeting on October 26, 2020. Though the meeting—like so much of our work during this era of COVID-19—was held virtually, the format remained conducive to insightful briefings and robust discussions. Even without the opportunity for in-person chats, the meeting was effective in sustaining participants’ commitment to nonproliferation issues and the Center’s innovative approach to training and education.
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CIF alumna Kimberly Nunez opened the event by sharing her views on how the CIF project heightened her awareness of the nuclear challenge, and the importance of the role of youth in addressing it. Dr. Bill Potter introduced his former student, Ms. Umayam, a 2013 US State Department Arms Control Verification Award recipient.
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New Possibilities for Russian–US Strategic Stability Talks |
Russia and the United States will soon find themselves in a situation where almost no area of military competition is regulated, write Andrey Baklitskiy, Sarah Bidgood, and Oliver Meier in a new brief published by the Deep Cuts Commission. This situation is a cause for concern because of the increased risks of crisis escalation and an unconstrained arms race. At the same time, the demise of traditional arms control opens the door to a broad spectrum of potential new arms control negotiations that are without precedent in the post-Cold War era.
Should they muster the political will to do so, Russia and the United States now have greater freedom to restructure the arms control architecture, taking into account their interests and those of their allies, as well as new technological developments.
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Nuclear Technology for Sustainable Agriculture |
Nuclear technologies do not only contribute to the production of low-carbon electricity. Their many applications are also used for sustainable development, including in the field of agriculture.
Using a nuclear technique known as plant mutation breeding, scientists can produce seeds that are more resistant to drought, disease and adverse weather conditions, have shorter crop cycles, higher yields and other beneficial traits. Over 3000 mutant varieties have been released worldwide and their value is measured in billions of dollars of additional revenue, in millions of cultivated hectares and, most importantly, in innumerable people leading better and healthier lives.
A new case study authored by VCDNP Senior Research Associate Ingrid Kirsten highlights the positive impact of plant mutation breeding on the livelihoods of farmers, as well as its contribution to mitigating food insecurity.
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Newly Declassified Documents on the US Knowledge of the Israeli Nuclear Program |
The Nuclear Vault project of the National Security Archives published a new tranche of documents about the US inspections of Israel's Dimona nuclear site. The publication, edited by Avner Cohen and William Burr, includes newly declassified documents, including a briefing by Harvard professor Henry Kissinger to US embassy officials, wherein he relayed his "strong belief that Israel is already embarked on a nuclear program."
This contrasts other declassified documents contained in the publication depicting most senior US officials to be uncertain, if not puzzled, about the state and future direction of the Israeli nuclear complex at Dimona. Not only did the most recent US inspection at Dimona on January 30, 1965, fail to uncover any “weapons-related activities” at the site, but in fact it revealed that the new Israeli nuclear complex was in a state of organizational confusion, even disarray, while senior staff morale was low.
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The Nonproliferation Review, the double-blind peer reviewed journal of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies concerned with the causes, consequences, and control of the spread of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons, is accepting submissions for its 28th volume.
All submitted manuscripts that are accepted for publication are eligible to win the Doreen and Jim McElvany prize of $5,000, a $3,000 runner’s-up prize, or a $1,000 honorable mention prize. Due to the limited number of pages that we can publish in a single volume, eligible articles will be accepted for publication on a rolling basis. It is therefore in authors’ interest to submit early to ensure consideration for the prize.
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James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies
460 Pierce Street
Monterey, CA 93940 USA
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Phone: +1 (831) 647-4154
Fax: +1 (831) 647-3519
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