February 9, 2001
Colloquium Topic: The Dilemma of Nuclear Weapons in the 21st Century
We need to review how little nuclear arms control treaties have accomplished in the absolute, and how poor the prospects are for the future. We also need to appreciate the changing objectives of nuclear arms control. During the Cold War, we worked to avoid a nuclear Armageddon with the Soviet Union. In the post-Cold War era, we need to focus much more attention on avoiding any use of nuclear weapons, especially by rogue states and terrorists. To lead the world into a continuing absence of nuclear warfare, both the U.S. and Russia have to reduce the size of their nuclear arsenals. Neither of us can assume a leadership role in preventing any other nation from obtaining even a few of these weapons when we insist on holding on to tens of thousands of them. Because nuclear proliferation appears to be so imminent in countries such as Iraq and Iran, the United States and Russia need to move expeditiously. That just cannot be done through the treaty process. We need a series of unilateral and reciprocal moves to defuse our nuclear arsenals to such depths as removing warheads and placing them in remote storage. Only thus can we demonstrate to the rest of the world that we are downgrading the role of nuclear weapons in our arsenals, and therefore, other nations should do the same or not acquire them at all.
Colloquium Speaker: ADM Stansfield Turner
Admiral Stansfield Turner graduated from USNA in 1946 and earned a master¹s degree from Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar. In 1967 he commissioned the guided missile cruiser U.S.S. Horne and the next year operated with the Seventh Fleet off Vietnam. On shore, he served in the Navy¹s Office of Politico-Military Affairs, in Secretary of Defense McNamara¹s Office of Systems Analysis, and as Executive Assistant and Naval Aide to the Secretaries of the Navy, Paul Ignatius and John Chafee. He was selected for promotion to Rear Admiral in May 1970 and as a flag officer served in command of a Carrier Task group of the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean, as the Director of the Navy¹s Office of Systems Analysis, as Commander of the Second Fleet and as the 36th President of the Naval War College where he made major curriculum changes. In September 1975, he was promoted to the rank of Admiral and became Commander-in-Chief of NATO¹s Southern Flank. In February 1977 President Jimmy Carter nominated him to be Director, CIA and presented him the National Security Medal at the end of his tenure. In 1995 Admiral Turner was awarded a Senior Research Fellowship at the Norwegian Nobel Peace Institute in Oslo. He has taught at Yale University and at the U.S. Military Academy and in 1991, joined the faculty of the Graduate School of Public Affairs, UMCP. Admiral Turner has written three books: Secrecy and Democracy discusses the problems of conducting secret intelligence activities in our open, democratic society; Terrorism and Democracy discusses how a democracy can respond to acts of terrorism without undermining its democratic principles; and, Caging the Nuclear Genie An American Challenge for Global Security develops a plan for controlling nuclear weapons. A revised edition of Caging the Nuclear Genie that deals also with biological and chemical weapons was published in May 1999. In November 1998 he was awarded the Foreign Policy Association Medal for demonstrated commitment to peace, along with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, and Senator George Mitchell. In the same month the State of Illinois selected him as a Laureate of the Lincoln Academy of Illinois. Admiral Turner has received numerous honorary degrees, is a member of the Board of Directors Chase Investment Counsel Corporation, the Board of Direction of the American Association of Rhodes Scholars, and the Committee of Visitors for Goucher College.