Distinguished panel to discuss future of nuclear weapons at IU Bloomington Oct. 29

Published: Monday, October 19, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Oct. 19, 2009

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The Center on American and Global Security and the India Studies Program at Indiana University have invited a distinguished panel of experts to present a symposium on "The Future of Nuclear Weapons."

The symposium will take place from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 29, in the Dogwood Room of the Indiana Memorial Union, 900 E. Seventh St., Bloomington. This event is free and open to the public.

Participating in the symposium will be:

• Robert Jervis, the Adlai E. Stevenson Professor of Political Science at Columbia University and author of several books, including American Foreign Policy in a New Era, The Meaning of the Nuclear Revolution, Perception and Misperception in International Politics and The Logic of Images in International Relations.
• John J. Mearsheimer, the R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science and the co-director of the Program on International Security Policy at the University of Chicago and author of books such as Conventional Deterrence, The Tragedy of Great Power Politics and The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy.
• Gideon Rose, managing editor of Foreign Affairs and a member of the National Security Council during the Clinton administration.
• Stephen Schwartz, editor of Nonproliferation Review and former publisher and executive director of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.

According to Sumit Ganguly, director of the India Studies Program and director of research for the Center on American and Global Security, the symposium occurs at an opportune moment because nuclear weapons policies and controversies are much in the news now and will continue to be for the foreseeable future.

President Obama is pursuing his call for global elimination of nuclear weapons. The United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution in September 2009 on stopping the spread of nuclear weapons and strengthening compliance with international non-proliferation treaties.

Fears about the nuclear weapons ambitions of North Korea and Iran are escalating. Concerns about the security of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal have been raised. Russia and the United States are negotiating a treaty to replace the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START). Worries about the U.S.-India nuclear accord concluded in 2007 are increasing. Policy makers remain concerned about the potential for nuclear terrorism. The next review conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty will take place in 2010.

The symposium's distinguished experts will address these and other challenges facing national and international policies on nuclear weapons.