Center for the Study of Weapons of Mass Destruction

	Program for Emerging Leaders
	Applications are no longer being accepted for the 2010 Program for Emerging Leaders.  For information about the program, eligibility, and application instructions, please visit the PEL webpage. Frequently asked questions about PEL can be found here.

New Resources

WMD Case Study Series

What types of weapons make up Weapons of Mass Destruction? What are their characteristics and uses? How can one identify and deal with such weapons? The WMD Center Case Study Series can be used to teach about the threat of WMD, while meeting JPME educational objectives, including national security decision-making, deterrence strategies, operational considerations, and others. These studies, written by leading experts in the field, are 15-25 pages so that they can be used as the core of a classroom discussion. Each case study comes with an instructor’s note, which can be obtained by contacting Dr. Erin Mahan by email or at (202) 433-6343.     CSWMD is collaborating with the NDU Library on its MERLN, military education research library network. MERLN is home to the Military Policy Awareness Links - MiPALS - which provide direct access to defense-related issues on selected topics. MERLN's WMD MiPALs offers a unique research tool for WMD education

     

New Publications U.S. Withdrawal from the January 2010 Antiballistic Missile Treaty   Lynn F. Rusten The ABM Treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union (later Russia) barred both superpowers from deploying national defenses against long-range ballistic missiles in order to curtail the nuclear arms race. This case study describes the decision making process of the National Security Council for the U.S.’s eventual withdrawal from this treaty. Instructors may request a copy of the teaching notes for classroom use by email or calling (202) 433-6343 To download the case study, please click here [PDF]       Avoiding a Crisis of Confidence  January 2010 in the U.S. Nuclear Deterrent John P. Caves, Jr. The United States needs to modernize and ensure the long-term reliability and responsiveness of its aging nuclear deterrent force and nuclear weapons infrastructure. It cannot otherwise safely reduce its nuclear weapons, responsibly ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, confidently deter and contain challenges from rising or resurgent nuclear-armed near peers, and effectively dissuade allies and partners from acquiring their own nuclear weapons. Modernization is fundamental to avoiding a future crisis of confidence in the U.S. nuclear deterrent.  To download the article, please click here.  [PDF]       President Nixon’s Decision to Renounce the U.S.  October 2009 Offensive Biological Weapons Program Jonathan Tucker and Erin Mahan November 25, 2009 marks the 40th anniversary of President Richard Nixon’s announcement to end the U.S. offensive biological weapons program. This case study, the first in the WMD Center Case Study Series, sheds light on the interagency policymaking process at multiple levels of the U.S. national security bureaucracy and shows how the BW decision emerged from a confluence of international, domestic, bureaucratic, and personal factors. Electronic copies of this publication can be downloaded here. Instructors may request a copy of the teaching note for classroom use by email or calling (202) 433-6343.     Countering WMD: September 2009 Looking Back, Looking Ahead   Paul I. Bernstein, John P. Caves Jr., and W. Seth Carus Nearly 20 years have passed since the United States began worrying in earnest about the risks of regional weapons of mass destruction (WMD) proliferation.  Never have weapons so seldom used commanded such attention for so long.  It is one of the more notable continuities across the post–Cold War administrations.  Countering WMD:  Looking Back, Looking Ahead, the seventh Occasional Paper of the Center for the Study of Weapons of Mass Destruction at the National Defense University, examines the evolution of U.S. perceptions of the WMD threat and major responses to that threat from the Clinton administration to the first few months of the Obama administration.  It also considers why our worst fears for WMD use and proliferation have not been realized and anticipates some of the major WMD challenges that lie ahead.  Electronic copies of this publication can be downloaded here [PDF]. Aligning Disarmament to Nuclear Dangers July 2009   Off to a Hasty START? David A. Cooper Confronted by a daunting array of nuclear threats, and having pledged to reinvigorate the application of disarmament tools to address these dangers, the Obama administration has decided to focus its initial efforts on negotiating a new bilateral agreement with Russia to replace the Cold War–era Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), which expires at the end of this year. Electronic copies of this publication can be downloaded here [PDF].