Strategic Security Heats Up

In the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks, nuclear security has taken on its highest profile since the end of the Cold War. FAS, in an ideal position to inform and influence the debate, is acting on many fronts to promote enlightened policy directions.

In October, FAS sponsored a meeting in Berlin of policy makers, military officials, and academics from the US, Russia and Europe where participants discussed how to move forward on fissile materials protection, nuclear cuts, and missile defense. The meeting was co-sponsored with the Center for Arms Control, Energy and Environmental Studies of the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and the Frankfurt Peace Research Institute. Planned before September 11, the meeting took on special importance, providing participants the opportunity to explore the newly transformed security landscape. An important outcome of the meeting was a plan for a series of joint international studies.

FAS also held an evening forum in Washington, DC including staff from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the offices of Senators Daschle, Biden, Lieberman, Harkin and Bingaman and of Congressman Markey, to identify policy priorities. The suggestions from the meeting are helping us define priorities for the next year. Policymakers were eager for independent analysis of crude terrorist nuclear threats, which we are studying.

On November 8, FAS held a well-attended press briefing Fewer, but Loose and More Likely to be Used?: Leading Scientists Map the Transformed Nuclear Weapons Landscape. Briefers talked about nuclear terrorism, missile defense, nuclear force reductions, the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, and low-yield nuclear weapons. They also discussed how current efforts fit into the broader arms control picture. The public press event was supplemented by several private meetings with reporters and editorial boards in Washington, DC and in New York. In conjunction with the events, FAS released a package of background papers addressing the issues discussed. That package, and a transcript of the briefing, can be found on the FAS website.

We organized a Nobel Laureate letter campaign asking Congress not to fund any activities inconsistent with the ABM Treaty.

At this point, public attention remains centered on the immediate war against terrorism. To improve public understanding, we developed an extensive webpage that includes resources on terrorist activities, weaponry and the geopolitical context for current events. The page also links to detailed information that FAS staff has collected on strategic issues and domestic threats such as biological and chemical weapons. The New York Times recommends the FAS site in its November 5 article on informative Internet links, and identified FAS' section on bioterrorism as one of "two stand[ing] out for providing an excellent overview." FAS' Strategic Security, Animal Disease, ASMP, and the Biological and Chemical Weapons projects collaborated on the site.