Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation

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The Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation is a Washington, D.C.-based 501(c)3 non-profit, non-partisan research organization dedicated to enhancing international peace and security in the 21st century. Formerly known as Council for a Livable World Education Fund, it became an independent organization in 1980. It facilitates the work of the Council for a Livable World, founded in 1962 by eminent nuclear physicist Leo Szilard and other scientists who worked in the pioneer days of atomic weapons, by producing technical analysis on pressing nuclear proliferation and other security issues. Today, the Center also works to enhance other areas of international security. Since 2009, it has provided running commentary on United States nuclear weapons policy and other issues of national and international security on its blog, Nukes of Hazard[1]. The Center is funded by grants from private foundations and the generosity of thousands of individual donors.

The Center's executive director, John Isaacs, for decades has been a leader of arms control advocacy and research in Washington, D.C. and served as a foreign service officer in Vietnam.

The Hans Bethe Center is located on Capitol Hill, in Washington, D.C. and houses the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation and its sister organization, Council for a Livable World.

[edit] Methods

The Center works on its issues in four ways:

Monitoring – The Center tracks activities and developments in government and policy circles.

Informing – Through its website, email service, press releases, video and podcasts, media appearances, and publications, the Center informs academics, activists, policymakers, and the press about actions taking place in the U.S. government.

Educating – The Center arranges for experts to brief government policymakers, members of Congress, congressional staff members and several analysts have been called to give expert testimonies at congressional hearings, such as Biological and Chemical Weapons Control Program Director Dr. Alan Pearson's testimony^[1] regarding the development of chemical weapons.^[2]. Through its Outreach Program, the Center sends top-level retired military officers throughout the U.S. to meet with students, veterans groups, local organizations, and legislators. ^[3]

Collaborating – The Center works with and organizes peace and security organizations, human needs groups, retired military officers, and peacekeeping organizations to build consensus and support for sane policies and solutions.

[edit] Policy and Research

General Robert G. Gard, Chairman (3rd from left) and General John H. Johns, Council for a Livable World Board member (2nd from left), with President Barack Obama at the signing of the Executive Order to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility January 22, 2009.

The Center seeks to reduce and ultimately eliminate nuclear weapons as a tool of U.S. national security policy, halt the spread of all weapons of mass destruction, stop the deployment of a national missile defense system, and redirect national security spending to better address the genuine threats facing the United States.

The Center’s work is divided into four primary issue areas:

Nuclear Weapons - Covers nuclear disarmament, nuclear testing, new nuclear weapons, and missile defense.^[4]

Nonproliferation - Covers existing nonproliferation programs and regimes as well as new initiatives to halt the spread of weapons of mass destruction.

National Security Spending - Covers the budget and spending priorities in the Pentagon, the Department of Homeland Security, and other executive agencies charged with protecting U.S. national security. ^[5]

Biological and Chemical Weapons - Covers new and existing U.S. and multilateral efforts to prevent the use and proliferation of chemical and biological weapons. ^[6]

The Center also produces research and analysis on Iran^[7], Iraq and North Korea and the U.S.-India nuclear deal. ^[8]

[edit] Board of Directors

[edit] Officers

• Lt. General Robert Gard - Chair, U.S. Army, Retired

• Gene Pokorny - President, Consultant

• Paul Castleman - Secretary-Treasurer, Businessman

• Laurie T. Dewey - Vice President, Activist, philanthropist

[edit] Board

• Lincoln H. Day, Demographer

• Ambassador Peter W. Galbraith, Senior Diplomatic Fellow, Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation

• Lt. General Robert G. Gard, Jr. (U.S. Army, ret.), Chairman, Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation

• Roy J. Glauber, Harvard University

• Jerome Grossman, Founder, Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation

• John Isaacs, Executive Director, Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation

• George Wallerstein, University of Washington

• Matthew Bunn, Harvard University

[edit] National Advisory Board

• Philip E. Coyle, III, Center for Defense Information

• Ann Druyan, Author, Writer/Producer

• Craig Emanuel, Loeb & Loeb

• Thomas Graham, Jr., Former U.S. Diplomat

• Elisa D. Harris, University of Maryland

• Joseph P. Hoar, General, U.S. Marine Corps (ret.)

• Sam Knight, Attorney

• Larry Kopald, The Kopald Group

• William Lanouette, Author

• John C. Polanyi, University of Toronto

• Lisa Randall, Harvard University

• Pam Tarr, Ace Entertainment

• Mario Velasquez, SWIFT Remittances, LLC

• Frank von Hippel, Princeton University

• Jane Wales, World Affairs Council of Northern California

• Leonard Weiss, Stanford University

• Robert Zevin, Robert Brooke Zevin Associates, Inc.

[edit] References

1. ^ http://archives.energycommerce.house.gov/cmte_mtgs/110-oi-hrg.100407.BSL.shtml
2. ^ Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation: Germs, Viruses, and Secrets: The Silent Proliferation of Bio-Laboratories in the United States
3. ^ http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/10/12/news/top_stories/21_04_2610_11_07.txt "Retired generals criticize Iraq policy, worry over Iran," North County Times, October 11, 2007.
4. ^ http://us.oneworld.net/article/view/146853/1/ "Experts Warn New U.S. Weapon Could Jumpstart Nuclear Arms Race," One World.net, March 6, 2007
5. ^ http://www.armytimes.com/news/2007/12/dfn_bridgefund_071220/ Defense News about defense spending quoting Center research
6. ^ http://www.bwpp.org/6RevCon/documents/20061121CenterforArmsControl.pdf Statement of the Center for Arms Control and Non Proliferation and the Scientists Working Group on Biological and Chemical Weapons to the Sixth Review Conference of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention, November 21,2006, BioWeapons Prevent Project
7. ^ http://www.merip.org/mero/mero112307.html "War is Peace, Sanctions are Diplomacy," Middle East Report, November 23, 2007
8. ^ http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0611/21/ldt.01.html CNN Transcripts

[edit] External links

• Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation website
• Council for a Livable World website
• Nukes of Hazard Blog