Contemporary Conflicts in light of the Cold War

Dr. William C. Potter is Institute Professor and Director of the Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies (MIIS). He also directs the MIIS Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies.

He is the author of numerous books, scholarly articles, and other publications. His present research focuses on nuclear nonproliferation issues involving the post-Soviet states.

For further information about Dr. Potter, visit his page on the CNS Web site.

  Background Briefing by Dr. William Potter:

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The following readings highlight one of the less well-known but significant stories of the Cold War--the extended and extensive cooperation between Washington and Moscow for nuclear nonproliferation. Ironically, this cooperation has been less pronounced after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Among the questions one may wish to reflect upon are: (1) What enabled the United States and the Soviet Union to cooperate more successfully on nuclear nonproliferation issues than any other Cold War security matter? (2) Why has cooperation in this issue area eroded following the demise of the Soviet Union; and (3) What lessons from U.S.-Soviet cooperation for nonproliferation may be applicable to the evolving post-Cold War threat of nuclear terrorism?

For those who wish to learn more about this topic, see:

William C. Potter, "Historical Context," (full reference below in Suggested Readings)

For those who can read Russian, please also see, Roland Timerbaev, Rossiya i yadernoye nerasprostraneniye, 1945-1968 (Russia and Nuclear Nonproliferation, 1945-1968), (Moscow: Nauka, 1999), especially, 209-225.

A more theoretical and lengthy article relevant to the topic that some participants may wish to read is Peter R. Lavoy, "Learning and the Evolution of Cooperation in U.S. and Soviet Nuclear Nonproliferation Activities," in George W. Breslauer and Philip E. Tetlock, eds., Learning in U.S. and Soviet Foreign Policy, (Boulder: Westview Press, 1991), 738-783.

  Suggested Readings:

• William C. Potter, "Nuclear Proliferation: U.S.-Soviet Cooperation, The Washington Quarterly, Vol. 8, No. 1 (Winter 1985): 141-154.
• William C. Potter, "Prospects for U.S.-Russian Cooperation to Counter WMD Proliferation and Terrorism," The Aspen Institute Congressional Program Conference on U.S.-Russian Relations: Opportunities for Cooperation, Moscow, 10-16 August 2003.
• William Epstein, The Last Chance: Nuclear Proliferation and Arms Control, (New York: The Free Press, 1976), 98-119.
• "Appendix A: Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons [1 July 1968]," in William C. Potter, Nuclear Power and Nonproliferation: An Interdisciplinary Perspective, (Cambridge, Mass.: Oelgeschlager, Gunn & Hain, 1982), 243-248.
• Henry DeWolf Smyth, Atomic Energy for Military Purposes: The Official Report on the Development of the Atomic Bomb under the Auspices of the United States Government, 1940-1945, (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1945), 223-227.
• David Holloway, Stalin and the Bomb: The Soviet Union and Atomic Energy, 1939-1956, (New Haven, Conn. and London: Yale University Press, 1994), 346-363.
• [Optional Reading:] William C. Potter, Nuclear Power and Nonproliferation: An Interdisciplinary Perspective, (Cambridge, Mass.: Oelgeschlager, Gunn & Hain, 1982), 35-58.

  Proceed to Lesson Plans on Nuclear Proliferation and the Cold War for High School or College-level courses.

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