October 3, 2011

Students from the departments of State, Homeland Security, Defense and other governmental and nongovernmental organizations are learning about arms control and nuclear nonproliferation as part of a series of courses hosted by USIP.

The Institute’s Academy for International Conflict Management and Peacebuilding held the course in nuclear nonproliferation Sept. 26-30. And, for the first time ever, an undersecretary of state, Ellen Tauscher, spoke to an Academy class. Tauscher is the undersecretary of state for Arms Control and International Security Affairs.

This was the fourth class held as part of the Academy’s program series on nuclear nonproliferation issues and arms control that offers an in-depth look at both sectors.

The Institute facilitated what was known as the Congressional Commission on the Strategic Posture of the United States in 2008-2009. The bipartisan commission took a comprehensive look at the U.S. national security strategy, the nuclear infrastructure and deterrent force posture. USIP’s Paul Hughes, now the chief of staff at USIP, was the executive director of the commission.

“The Institute, with approval of the board, concluded that nonproliferation is an essential element of our conflict prevention work,” says Mike Lekson, deputy provost of the Academy. “While others in the Institute are working on issues such as North Korea and Iran, the Academy has developed a number of courses related to this topic of nuclear nonproliferation and arms control.” The Academy also offers another course that offers an in-depth look at arms control issues, as well as broader overviews of the topic.

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