Events
Explaining Nuclear Forbearance: A Case Study on Sweden
November 01, 2012 // 3:30pm — 5:00pm
Why did Sweden choose, in the late 1960s, to abandon its long-standing nuclear weapons plans? Today, the end of the Cold War and the declassification of large parts of the relevant documentary record, especially concerning the technical preparations for nuclear weapons production, have created the prerequisites for a more penetrating analysis of this important historical issue. The purpose of this presentation is to summarize the research on Sweden’s plans to acquire nuclear weapons based on primary sources. This overarching analysis is then tested against International Relations theories which have sought to explain factors of proliferation and non-proliferation.
Cuban Missile Crisis: Nuclear Order of Battle
October 24, 2012 // 3:30pm — 5:00pm
Robert S. Norris, senior fellow for nuclear policy at the Federation of American Scientists will lead a Wilson Center panel discussion on "Cuban Missile Crisis: The Nuclear Order of Battle." Joining him will be defense analyst and nuclear historian David A. Rosenberg. The event will take place during the 50th anniversary of the 13 day crisis.
OFF-SITE CONFERENCE: United Atoms in a Divided World: The Early History of the International Atomic Energy Agency
September 16, 2012 // 7:30pm — September 18, 2012 // 3:00pm
The Department of Contemporary History at the University of Vienna in collaboration with the Wilson Center's Nuclear Proliferation International History Project will host an international conference on the history of the IAEA during the cold war years. The conference will cover a wide range of issues, including the creation of the Agency, its role in the nuclear non-proliferation regime, and the Agency's technical programs. Beyond that, the conference seeks to discuss the cultural, societal, and economic context of the IAEA's early history.
Foreign Relations of the United States Series: SALT I, 1969–1972
February 02, 2012 // 3:30pm — 5:00pm
The Nuclear Proliferation International History Project in collaboration with the U.S. Department of State's Office of the Historian presents a panel discussion on the latest volume in the FRUS Series.
Brazil, Argentina, and the Road to the NPT
June 15, 2011 // 4:30pm — 6:00pm
For several decades Argentina and Brazil sought to develop their own indigenous nuclear programs and tried to resist the expansion of the global non-proliferation regime. Deep mutual suspicion coupled with status competition colored their relationship and their standing in the face of the major nuclear powers. Starting in the 1980s, however, a range of mechanisms led to an emerging system of mutual inspections that transformed geopolitics in South America, defused threat perceptions, helped the civilian leadership extricate the military from the nuclear programs, and paved the way for entry into the NPT.
Continental Defense in the Eisenhower Era: Nuclear Antiaircraft Arms and the Cold War
November 17, 2010 // 3:00pm — 4:30pm
Christopher Bright, Author, Continental Defense in the Eisenhower Era, Robert S. Norris, Natural Resources Defense Council
The Worst-Kept Secret: Israel's Bargain With the Bomb
October 07, 2010 // 4:00pm — 6:00pm
Avner Cohen, Senior Fellow, James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies; Morton Halperin, Senior Adviser, Open Society Institute, Samuel W. Lewis, former U.S. Ambassador to Israel; Bruce Riedel, Former Senior Director, National Security Council, Near East Affairs
The History of the Gas Centrifuge and Its Role in Nuclear Proliferation
January 20, 2010 // 3:00pm — 4:30pm
Houston G. Wood, Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Virginia; David Albright, President, Institute for Science and International Security; Jeffrey Lewis, Director, Nuclear Strategy and Nonproliferation Initiative, New America Foundation
Confronting the Bomb: A Short History of the World Nuclear Disarmament Movement
July 20, 2009 // 12:30pm — 2:00pm
Lawrence S. Wittner, State University of New York at Albany; David S. Patterson Yale University; Stan Riveles, Institute for Defense Analyses
The Nuclear Challenge: Italian Foreign Policy and Atomic Weapons, 1945-1991
February 17, 2009 // 3:00pm — 4:30pm
Leopoldo Nuti, Machiavelli Center for Cold War Studies; Amb. Richard Gardner, Columbia University; James Miller, Georgetown University and Department of State Foreign Service Institute