Panel discussion: Rethinking U.S. nuclear weapons policy

Reducing American dependency on nuclear weapons will lead to greater security for the United States and its allies and should be the driving force behind U.S. nuclear weapons policy.

The ultimate American goal should be multilateral, verifiable nuclear disarmament, according to recommendations from a Stanley Foundation project.

To achieve this, the U.S. will need to take several steps, including adoption of a no-first-use policy, pursuing the removal of all remaining U.S. nuclear weapons from Europe, negotiating an extension of the START verification protocol with Russia, and engaging China in ways that build a secure nuclear future.

Nearly 20 years after the end of the Cold War, the U.S. still has more than 5,000 nuclear weapons in its stockpile and keeps many of them on high-alert status—ready to be launched at a moment’s notice.

The U.S. is also one of the few countries that has not ratified an agreement to end nuclear weapons testing and has in recent years pursued the rejuvenation of its stockpile and considered building new nuclear weapons. At the same time, the U.S. has been an active proponent of stopping the spread of nuclear material and technologies to others around the globe.

With a new incoming presidential administration, the U.S. will undertake a formal review of its nuclear weapons policy. With this in mind, the Stanley Foundation launched a U.S. Nuclear Policy Review project to produce recommendations for changing U.S. nuclear weapons policy.

Join panelists on October 30, 2008, as they share those recommendations for what a new U.S. nuclear weapons policy should look like.

PANELISTS:
Matt Martin, Program Officer, Policy Analysis and Dialogue, The Stanley Foundation
Janne Nolan, Professor, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, University of Pittsburgh
John Steinbruner, Professor and Director of the Center for International and Security Studies, University of Maryland
Elizabeth Turpen, Senior Associate, The Stimson Center

MODERATOR:
Brian Hanson, Associate Director of the Buffett Center for International and Comparative Studies and Lecturer in Political Science, Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, Northwestern University

WHEN:
Thursday, October 30, 2008
11:30 a.m. Registration
12:00-1:30 p.m. Lunch & Panel

WHERE:
Union League Club of Chicago
65 West Jackson Boulevard
Chicago, IL60604

For registration and further details, please visit the Stanley Foundation's event page.

This event is cosponsored by the Stanley Foundation, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Chicago Council on Science and Technology, and National Strategy Forum.