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

• Happy Holidays and Happy New Year 2024
  My CNS colleagues and I wish you a peaceful and joyous New Year.
• A Message from CNS Director Bill Potter
  My warm wishes to you for a joyous holiday season.
• 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.”

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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.