Nuclear History Events
Is the World More Dangerous 50 years after the Cuban Missile Crisis?
October 15, 2012 // 1:00pm — 2:30pm
History and Public Policy Program
In October the world will observe the 50th Anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis, when the world came closest to nuclear war. In this Wilson Center National Conversation, panelists will discuss the Cuban Missile Crisis and the lessons that it holds in the context of the upcoming US presidential election.
Thirteen Days and More: A Soviet Perspective on the Cuban Missile Crisis
September 24, 2012 // 4:00pm — 5:30pm
History and Public Policy Program
Fifty years ago, the world spent thirteen days transfixed as the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. engaged in a contest of wills over placement of Soviet missiles in Cuba. Svetlana Savranskaya will discuss behind-the-scenes maneuvers by Soviet second-in-command Anastas Mikoyan, revealing that the crisis lasted into November and involved plans by the U.S.S.R. to leave tactical nuclear weapons in Cuba, foiled not by U.S. resolve, but by Fidel Castro’s own actions.
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
Nuclear Proliferation International History Project
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.
The Path to Lower Nuclear Numbers?
May 04, 2012 // 12:00pm — 1:30pm
International Security Studies
Speaker: Jon Wolfsthal, Deputy Director, James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, Monterey Institute for International Studies.
The Role of Tacit Knowledge in WMD Proliferation: Past and Present
April 20, 2012 // 12:00pm — 1:30pm
International Security Studies
This talk will examine the extent to which tacit knowledge – work related to practical knowledge – is relevant to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The authors will discuss both historical and contemporary case studies of nuclear and biological weapons.
The Last Time We Were at Nuclear Zero
February 23, 2012 // 12:00pm — 1:30pm
International Security Studies
With George Quester, Chairman of the Department of Government and Politics at the University of Maryland and the J.B. and Maurice C. Shapiro Visiting Professor of International Affairs at The George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs.
Foreign Relations of the United States Series: SALT I, 1969–1972
February 02, 2012 // 3:30pm — 5:00pm
Nuclear Proliferation International History Project
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.
Why Iran Negotiates as it Does
October 28, 2011 // 12:00pm — 1:30pm
International Security Studies
With Shahram Chubin, Former Public Policy Scholar, Woodrow Wilson Center and Nonresident Senior Associate, Nuclear Policy Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Brazil, Argentina, and the Road to the NPT
June 15, 2011 // 4:30pm — 6:00pm
Nuclear Proliferation International History Project
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.
Warsaw Pact: Wartime Statutes—Instruments of Soviet Control
April 05, 2011 // 1:00pm — 4:30pm
Cold War International History Project
A collection of recently declassified Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) documents demonstrates that in the early 1980s the U.S. government learned quickly of new Warsaw Pact planning instruments and accurately assessed the role that the Soviet Union's Warsaw Pact allies were expected to play in a conflict in Europe.