Global Security Engagement: A New Model for Cooperative Threat Reduction

National Academy of Sciences. Committee on International Security and Arms Control Policy and Global Affairs

ISBN 10: 0309137209 / ISBN 13: 9780309137201

Published by The National Academies Press, Washington, DC, 2009

About this Item

xiv, 132 p. Illustrations. With press release notes laid in (with ink notations). A Note on Terminology. Author continues; "Committee on Strengthening and Expanding the Department of Defense Cooperative Threat Reduction Program." The government's first Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) programs were created in 1991 to eliminate the former Soviet Union's nuclear, chemical, and other weapons and prevent their proliferation. The programs have accomplished a great deal: deactivating thousands of nuclear warheads, neutralizing chemical weapons, converting weapons facilities for peaceful use, and redirecting the work of former weapons scientists and engineers, among other efforts. Originally designed to deal with immediate post-Cold War challenges, the programs must be expanded to other regions and fundamentally redesigned as an active tool of foreign policy that can address contemporary threats from groups that are that are agile, networked, and adaptable. As requested by Congress, Global Security Engagement proposes how this goal can best be achieved. To meet the magnitude of new security challenges, particularly at the nexus of weapons of mass destruction and terrorism, Global Security Engagement recommends a new, more flexible, and responsive model that will draw on a broader range of partners than current programs have. The White House, working across the Executive Branch and with Congress, must lead this effort. From Wikipedia: "The Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) Program (occasionally known as Nunn Lugar based on a 1992 U.S. law sponsored by Senators Sam Nunn and Richard Lugar) is an initiative housed within the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA). According to the CTR website, "the purpose of the CTR Program is to secure and dismantle weapons of mass destruction and their associated infrastructure in former Soviet Union states." CTR provides funding and expertise for states in the former Soviet Union (including Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan) to decommission nuclear, biological, and chemical weapon stockpiles, as agreed by the Soviet Union under disarmament treaties such as SALT II. Under the scrutiny of American contractors, nuclear warheads would be removed from their delivery vehicles, then decommissioned or stockpiled at designated sites in Russia. In recent years, the CTR program has expanded its mission from WMD at the root source to protecting against WMD "on the move" by enhancing land and maritime border security in the Former Soviet Union." Very good. Footnotes. Tables. Figures. References. Acronym List. Seller Inventory # 67230

Bibliographic Details

Title: Global Security Engagement: A New Model for ...

Publisher: The National Academies Press, Washington, DC

Publication Date: 2009

Binding: Trade paperback

Edition: Prepublication copy.

About this title

Synopsis:

The government's first Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) programs were created in 1991 to eliminate the former Soviet Union's nuclear, chemical, and other weapons and prevent their proliferation. The programs have accomplished a great deal: deactivating thousands of nuclear warheads, neutralizing chemical weapons, converting weapons facilities for peaceful use, and redirecting the work of former weapons scientists and engineers, among other efforts. Originally designed to deal with immediate post-Cold War challenges, the programs must be expanded to other regions and fundamentally redesigned as an active tool of foreign policy that can address contemporary threats from groups that are that are agile, networked, and adaptable. As requested by Congress, Global Security Engagement proposes how this goal can best be achieved.

To meet the magnitude of new security challenges, particularly at the nexus of weapons of mass destruction and terrorism, Global Security Engagement recommends a new, more flexible, and responsive model that will draw on a broader range of partners than current programs have. The White House, working across the Executive Branch and with Congress, must lead this effort.