Blockchain for International Security: The Potential of Distributed Ledger Technology for Nonproliferation and Export Controls

This book intersects the distributed ledger technology (DLT) community with the international security community. Given the increasing application of blockchain technology in the fields of business and international development, there is a growing body of study on other use cases. For instance, can blockchain have a significant role in preserving and improving international security? This book explores this question in the context of preventing the proliferation of some of the most dangerous materials in the world―items that if not secured can lend to the development of weapons of mass destruction. It considers how blockchain can increase efficiencies in the global trade of nuclear and chemical materials and technology, thereby increasing assurances related to compliance with international nonproliferation and disarmament treaties.

Cindy Vestergaard is Senior Fellow and Director of the Nuclear Safeguards and Blockchain in Practice programs at the Stimson Center. Before joining Stimson in 2016, she was Senior Researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS) in Copenhagen, Denmark. Prior to DIIS, she worked on non-proliferation, arms control, and disarmament policy and programming at Canada’s foreign ministry. She has a B.A. in international relations from the University of British Columbia, a M.A. in international relations and European Studies from Central European University (Budapest, Hungary), and a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Copenhagen. She has taught M.A.-level courses on weapons of mass destruction (WMD) at the University of Copenhagen and regularly asked to speak internationally on nuclear, biological and chemical non-proliferation.