William Potter

CNS Founding Director

[email protected]
Monterey, CA
831.647.3511

Activities

• Sam Nunn and Richard Lugar Professor
  of Nonproliferation Studies
• Founding Director of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies (MIIS)
• Member of the Council on Foreign Relations

Areas of Research

• Nuclear terrorism
• Forecasting proliferation developments
• US-Russian relations
• NPT review process
• NAM nuclear politics

Background

Dr. William Potter has served as a consultant to the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, the RAND Corporation, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

He has been a member of several committees of the National Academy of Sciences, including its Nonproliferation Panel.

He served for five years on the UN Secretary-General’s Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters and the Board of Trustees of the UN Institute for Disarmament Research.

He has participated as a delegate at every NPT Review Conference and Preparatory Committee meeting since 1995.

CNS Work

• CNS Celebrates its 35th Anniversary
  CNS celebrated its 35th anniversary at a gala reception at the Tabard Inn in Washington, DC on October 21.
• Under-Secretary Bonnie Jenkins Keynotes CNS Meeting
  The CNS International Advisory Council met in Washington, DC on October 21st for its annual meeting.
• A Q&A with Ambassador Richards
  CNS had a Q&A session after Ambassador Richards gave a commencement speech for the Spring graduating class of 2024.
• Ambassador Richard’s Speech Highlights CNS’ Impact on Nonproliferation
  Ambassador Shorna-Kay M. Richards spread a message of urgency to address a myriad of global problems but also one of hope.
• Diplomats Gather in Annecy France for NPT Workshop
  Over five dozen senior diplomats gathered in Annecy, France on March 7-8, 2024 for an NPT diplomatic workshop hosted by CNS.
• Dr. William Potter Appointed as Senior Fellow at UNIDIR
  Dr. William Potter was appointed as Senior Fellow at the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) in Geneva.
• Death Dust: The Rise, Decline, and Future of Radiological Weapons Programs – CISAC Stanford
  Death Dust explores the largely unknown history of the rise and demise of RW—sometimes portrayed as a “poor man’s nuclear weapon”—through a series of comparative case studies across the United States, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, Egypt, and Iraq.
• Death Dust: The Rise, Decline and Future of Radiological Weapons Programs
  This seminar focuses on the findings of the recently published book “Death Dust: The Rise, Decline and Future of Radiological Weapons Programs.”
• Why the World Should Still Worry About Dirty Bombs
  Despite attempts to ban radiological weapons, challenges persist in achieving consensus, highlighting the necessity for global collaboration, legal restraints, nonproliferation commitments, and public education to deter their proliferation.
• CNS International Advisory Council Meeting Focuses on Nonproliferation Risks of AI and the War in Ukraine
  The event, which included a business session, brought together many CNS alumni, who currently work in various US government agencies.

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Bibliography

Books

• End of an Era: The United States, Russia, and Nuclear Nonproliferation (2021), co-authored with Sarah Bidgood
• Nuclear Politics and the Non-Aligned Movement (2012)
• The Four Faces of Nuclear Terrorism (2005)
• Tactical Nuclear Weapons: Options for Control (2000)
• Nuclear Profiles of the Soviet Successor States (1993)
• Soviet Decisionmaking for Chernobyl: An Analysis of System Performance and Policy Change (1990)
• Nuclear Power and Nonproliferation: An Interdisciplinary Perspective (1982)

Editor

• Verification and SALT: The Challenge of Strategic Deception (1980)
• Verification and Arms Control (1985), and International Nuclear Trade and Nonproliferation (1990)

Co-Editor

• Once and Future Partners: The United States, Russia, and Nuclear Non-proliferation (2018)
• Preventing Black-Market Trade in Nuclear Technology (2018)
• Forecasting Nuclear Nonproliferation in the 21st Century (2 volumes, 2010)
• Engaging China and Russia on Nuclear Disarmament (2009)
• The Global Politics of Combating Nuclear Terrorism: A Supply Side Approach (2009)
• Dangerous Weapons, Desperate States (1999)
• Dismantling the Cold War: U.S. and NIS Perspectives on the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Program (1997)
• Soviet Decisionmaking for National Security (1984)
• The Nuclear Suppliers and Nonproliferation (1985
• Continuity and Change in Soviet-East European Relations (1989)
• International Missile Bazaar: The New Suppliers’ Network (1994)

Dr. Potter has contributed chapters and articles to over 130 scholarly books and journals.