The Project on Nuclear Issues (PONI) is a program hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies

Center for Strategic and International Studies

The Center for Strategic and International Studies is a bipartisan Washington, D.C., foreign policy think tank. The center was founded in 1962 by Admiral Arleigh Burke and Ambassador David Manker Abshire, originally as part of Georgetown University...

 (CSIS) to advance the public debate about the future role nuclear technology will play on the world stage.

Origin

Created in 2003 with support from a few government agencies and private donations, PONI has two stated goals. First, it seeks to "build and sustain a networked community of young nuclear experts from the military, the national laboratories, industry, academia, and the policy community." Second, "[work] to contribute to the debate and leadership on nuclear issues by generating new ideas and discussions among both its members and the public-at-large."

Philosophy

From the PONI public website:

"Perhaps the most critical challenge in sustaining the US nuclear deterrent after the end of the Cold War is maintaining the human infrastructure necessary to support US nuclear capabilities. This is especially true as the human infrastructure necessary to support a nuclear stockpile at the envisioned level of 1700-2200 operational warheads is not appreciably smaller than that necessary to support one at current levels. The challenge is therefore to maintain a smaller, but still vibrant, community of nuclear experts."

Leadership

Clark A. Murdock

Clark A. Murdock

Clark Murdock is a senior adviser at Center for Strategic and International Studies , a Washington, D.C.-based foreign policy think tank. Murdock specializes in strategic planning, defense policy, and national security affairs...

 started PONI when it was widely recognized that the nuclear community faced an impending crisis. With the widespread and rapid retirement of nuclear scientists and experts from the national laboratories, private industry, and the government. His study Revitalizing the U.S. Nuclear Deterrent, co-authored with Michèle Flournoy

Michele Flournoy

Michèle Angelique Flournoy is Under Secretary of Defense for Policy of the United States. She was confirmed in the position by the U.S. Senate on February 9, 2009 and was at the time the highest-ranking woman to hold a post at the Pentagon in the facility's history. She founded and was named...

, documented these concerns with shocking clarity. Clark initiated PONI out of concern about the future leadership and expertise of the nuclear community.

External links

• Official site
• PONI Debates the Issues (PDI) - PONI nuclear policy blog
• PDI Live Debates - PONI's expert debate series