Cooperative Threat Reduction Programs for the Next Ten Years and Beyond

The Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) Program was created by the United States after the dissolution of the Soviet Union to provide financial assistance and technical expertise to secure or eliminate nuclear weapons delivery systems; warheads, chemical weapons materials, biological weapons facilities, and nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons technology and expertise from the vast Soviet military complex. In a 2009 report, Global Security Engagement: A New Model for Cooperative Threat Reduction, the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) recommended adoption of a modified approach to thinking about CTR, including the expansion of CTR to other countries and specific modifications to CTR programs to better address the changing international security environment.

On September 18-19, 2017, the NAS held a symposium to discuss the state of CTR and the future of CTR programs over the next 10 years and beyond. More than 120 participants and speakers met to share experience gained implementing CTR and to explore CTR in light of new developments in science and technology, such as the convergence of chemistry and biology, the life-sciences revolution, and the needs and interests of the scientific communities in different countries. Participants also considered how government CTR programs should change and/or be reframed for the current and evolving global security and international political environment, as well as domestic requirements for impact and accountability. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussions from the workshop.