2009 Conference Presentations

CAPSTONE CONFERENCE

OFFUTT AFB, NEBRASKA
DECEMBER 15, 2009

Agenda

Panel 1: Emerging Strategic and Political Challenges

• North Korea’s Nuclear Test and Prospects for the CTBT, Heather Williams
• Strategic Posture Implications of Chinese Nuclear Weapons Modernization, Matt Squeri
• Missile Defense and Strategic Stability in East Asia, Chris Jones
• The Impact of the US withdrawal from the ABM Treaty on “Other” Nuclear Nations, Gary Axton

Panel 2: Reducing the Prevalence of Nuclear Weapons Worldwide

• Mitigating Proliferation Risks by Strengthening International Enforcement, Robert Brown
• Friends Don’t Let Friends Proliferate: Evidence from Sanctions and Lessons for Disarmament, Scott Helfstein
• A 'Stability' Strategy for Stockpile Reductions, Tom Tierney

Panel 3: New Methods for Preventing and Defending Against Nuclear and Radiological Attacks

• The Global Nuclear Detection Architecture (GNDA), Ryan Connelly
• NYPD Radiation Operations: Confronting the Radiological and Nuclear Threat, Elana DeLozier
• The Use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in Response to Nuclear/Radiological Terrorism, Daniel Dalton
• Integration of Science, Operations, Law and Policy for a Robust System to Support WMD Attribution Decisions, Randall Murch

Panel 4: Key Issues Affecting the Nuclear Stockpile, Delivery Platforms, and Operators 

• Recycling Nuclear Designs: An Examination of Yield to Weight Concerns, Benn Tannenbaum
• How Could Britain Operate a Scaled-Down Deterrent?, Paul Higson
• Unique and Complementary Characteristics of the ICBM and SLBM Systems, Mitch Bott
• The New ICBM Nuclear Professional, Bruce MacNeil

Panel 5: The Future of the Nuclear Enterprise

• The Myth of Knowledge Transfer: A Perspective on Future Technical Competency at the U.S. National Laboratories, Matthew Cowan
• How Much Science is Enough?, Nicola  Cox
• A Question of Trust: Revitalizing the Nuclear Weapon Complex’s Most Fundamental and Endangered Resource, Lani Miyoshi Sanders
• Is It Time to Denuclearize the Department of Energy?, Stephen Schwartz
   

FALL CONFERENCE

THE ROYAL SOCIETY, LONDON
OCTOBER 26-27, 2009

Agenda

Panel 1: Technical and Operational Challenges

• The Myth of Knowledge Transfer: A Perspective on Future Technical Competency at the U.S. National Laboratories, Matthew Cowan
• Recycling Nuclear Designs: An Examination of Yield-to-Weight Concerns, Benn Tannenbaum
• De-alerting Nuclear Weapons, Stuart Mackie

Panel 2: Responding to the Potential Spread of Dangerous Materials and Technologies

• Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty Verification Utilizing International Atomic Energy Verification Methodologies, Elizabeth Meek
• The Current International Approach to Securing Radioactive Materials: Challenges and Prospects for the Future, Benjamin Hautecouverture
• The Global Nuclear Detection Architecture, Ryan Connelly
• The use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in Response to Nuclear/Radiological Terrorism, Daniel Dalton

Panel 3: Preventing Nuclear Proliferation

• The Proliferation Security Initiative Under the Obama Administration, Derek Smith
• Friends Don't Let Friends Proliferate, Scott Helfstein
• Positive Incentives and Nonproliferation: Myths, Realities, and Policy Options, Jeffrey Fields

Panel 4: Surveying the Future Nuclear Landscape

• Technology and Global Security, Stephen Hughes
• The Path to Base Camp, Tom Tierney
• Zero?, Rashad Hussain

Panel 5: Key Issues Affecting UK Nuclear Posture

• Scale and the Deterrent, Paul Dack
• How Could Britain Operate a Scaled-down Deterrent, Paul Higson
• The Impact of US Withdrawal from the ABM Treaty on "Other" Nuclear Nations, Gary Axton
• Ballistic Missile Defense: Utility of Wargaming, Andrew Ash

Panel 6: Drivers of Change in National Nuclear Policies

• International Perceptions of U.S. Nuclear and Nonproliferation Policies, Kerry Kartchner
• On Japan, Richard White
• Framing China's Strategic Nuclear Posture: Stripping the Chaff, Returning to the Core Issue of the DF-5A, Graham Ong-Webb

SUMMER CONFERENCE

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO
AUGUST 6-7, 2009 

Agenda

Keynote Address

• PONI and the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons, Ambassador Linton F. Brooks

Panel 1: Human Capital and Management in the Nuclear Complex

• New ICBM Nuclear Professional, Bruce MacNeil
• How Much Science is Enough?, Nicola S. Cox
• A Question of Trust: Revitalizing the Nuclear Weapon Complex's Most Fundamental and Endangered Resource, Lani Miyoshi Sanders
• Is it Time to Denuclearize the Department of Energy?, Stephen Schwartz

Panel 2: Deterrence and Extended Deterrence

• Goldilocks Missile Defense: Promoting Strategic Stability in East Asia, Chris Jones
• Expanding Deterrence against Catastrophic Attacks, Elbridge A. Colby
• Development of Computational Models in Assuring Deterrence, Adam Connolly

Panel 3: Responding to Nuclear Smuggling and Attacks

• NYPD Radiation Operations: Confronting the Radiological and Nuclear Threat, Elana DeLozier
• Nuclear Forensics Expertise Development Program, Samantha E. Kentis
• Integration of Science, Operations, Law and Policy for a Robust System to Support WMD Attribution Decisions, Randall S. Murch

Panel 4: Proliferation Challenges

• From Opacity to Transparency: Why Countries Reveal Their Nuclear Weapons Programs, Eric Lorber
• North Korea’s Challenge to the CTBT, Heather W. Williams
• Nuclear Politics vs. Alliance Politics: A Balancing Act for U.S. Policy in Turkey, Jessica C. Varnum
• Policy options for mitigating proliferation risks in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and throughout the Middle East, Martin B. Malin

Panel 5: Nuclear Force Levels and Composition

• Dispelling Myths about the NPT and Disarmament, Dane Swango
• Pathway to 1,000 Weapons: An ‘All Things Nuclear’ View of the Implications to U.S. Policy, Andrew T. Walter
• Unique and Complementary Characteristics of the ICBM and SLBM Weapon Systems, Mitch Bott
• Proliferation Pressures and Arms Reduction: How Much is Too Much?, Matt Gardner

SPRING CONFERENCE

U.S. NAVAL ACADEMY, ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND
MARCH 26-27, 2009 

Agenda

Panel 1: Considerations for U.S. Strategic Posture

• To Zero or Not To Zero: The Four Statesmen and the Nuke Inventory Limbo, Tom Tierney
• Thinking About the Unthinkable: Priorities for the Upcoming Nuclear Posture Review, Thomas Skypek
• Modeling China’s “Minimum Means of Reprisal” Strategy, Kimberly Gilligan
• Strategic Posture Implications of Chinese Nuclear Weapons Modernization, Matt Squeri

Panel 2: Policy Community Leaders on Key Nuclear Issues

• Stockpile Stewardship after RRW: Criteria for Life Extension Programs, Stephen Young
• Nuclear Abolition and the Next Arms Race, Henry Sokolski
• The Imperative of Strengthening and Preserving the NPT, Jonathan Granoff

Panel 3: Proliferation Dynamics and Responses

• Does Proliferation Beget Proliferation? Reactive Nuclear Weapons Proliferation Revisited, Philipp Bleek
• Mitigating Proliferation Risks by Strengthening International Enforcement, Robert Brown
• Pioneering Organizational Change, Strategic Communications, and Outreach to Combat Emerging Proliferation Threats, Erin Harbaugh
• U.S. Nuclear Security Guarantees: Maintaining Protection in the 21^st Century, Sara Kutchesfahani

Panel 4: New Capabilities, New Risks

• A Transparent Sea: Space-based Monitoring and Nuclear Deterrence, Barney Kistruck
• Anti-submarine Warfare and Strategic Stability in the Indian Ocean, Roman Sehling
• Fourth Generation Nuclear Weapons: Moving the Nuclear Debate Beyond Fission, Jason Wood, Policy Analyst
• Use of Nuclear Weapons Against Technology-dependent Countries, Richard Lynch and Keren Jobbins
• Non-Traditional Counter Terrorism Strategies: The Importance of Scientific Erudition in the Global War Against Terrorism, Veronica Canton

Technical Expert Presentation

• Radiological Dispersal Device Material Forensics, Kevin Carney