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

• Behind the Scenes: How Not to Negotiate an Enhanced NPT Review Process
  When more than 100 delegations assembled this summer to review the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT), expectations among most diplomats were low.
• The Significant CNS/MIIS Presence at the 2023 NPT PrepCom in Vienna
  In keeping with its deep tradition, CNS was very visible at meetings of the Working Group for Further Strengthening the NPT Review Process and the 2023 NPT Preparatory Committee in Vienna.
• Putin’s War with Ukraine: Voices of CNS Experts on the Russian Invasion
  A compendium of CNS expert analysis and commentary on the nuclear ramifications of the war, as well as educational materials for expert and general audience.
• Launch event “International Day for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Awareness”
  To mark the first-ever such day, the Permanent Mission of Kyrgyzstan to the UN together with the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs co-hosted a virtual launch event
• CNS Advisory Council Meeting Featured CTBO Executive Secretary Robert Floyd, NPT Review Conference President Gustavo Zlauvinen, and US Under-Secretary of State Bonnie Jenkins
  The CNS International Advisory Council held its annual meeting in Washington, DC on October 24, 2022.
• The Demise of the USSR and the Nuclear Aftermath in Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine
  William C. Potter reviews a Journal of Cold War Studies article by Mariana Budjeryn.
• The Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty – a View from Washington
  EVENT July 21, 2022: William Potter will moderate a major live-streamed NPT event with Amb. Adam Scheinman for the Los Angeles World Affairs Council.
• NPT Diplomats Meet in Annecy 2022
  Over 60 senior diplomats, officials, and experts met for the traditional CNS NPT Diplomatic Workshop on “The 10th NPT Review Conference: Prospects and Pitfalls.”
• Russian Misinformation About Ukrainian Radiological Weapons Capabilities and Intentions
  A flurry of unsubstantiated and intentionally misleading allegations began prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and continue to this date.
• The Fallout from Russia’s Attack on Ukrainian Nuclear Facilities
  Why have these civilian nuclear facilities been the object of attack, and what are the likely consequences of this high-risk military action by Moscow?

• <<
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5
• 6
• 7
...
• 13
• >>

View list on separate page

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.