Nuclear, chemical, and biological disarmament is a regular topic in this journal's pages. For more than twenty years, the Nonproliferation Review (NPR) has published theoretical, historical, and analytical views from the world's top thinkers on the challenges and consequences of pursuing disarmament.
But disarmament is more than simply an ideal, or a goal that can that accomplished by the issuance of a declaration. Disarmament is a process; once an agreement to achieve it has been made, officials and experts must find ways to carry it out.
In November 2015, the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) convened a two-day workshop on the theme of the elimination of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in our Washington, DC, office, bringing together veterans of past efforts to remove and eliminate nuclear, chemical, or biological weapon programs. Its purpose was vital: to identify lessons from these experiences for the benefit of future WMD elimination missions. The workshop's co-conveners, Dr. Chen Kane, director of CNS's Middle East Nonproliferation Program, and Dr. Philipp Bleek, assistant professor at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, have guided the effort to capture these discussions as the exceptional collection of articles in this special issue of the Nonproliferation Review.
The contributors to this special issue have drawn on their first-hand experiences eliminating WMDs across a wide swath of the globe, including former Soviet states, Iraq—in both the 1990s and 2000s—South Africa, Libya, and Syria. Their articles include insiders' accounts of how the disarmament process was decided, authorized, and executed, often under unprecedented, tense, or dangerous circumstances. It has been an enlightening opportunity to work with these under-sung heroes of global security in producing this issue.
In other news, I would like to welcome Joshua H. Pollack as the new NPR editor. Joshua, who is a co-author of the introduction to this special issue, possesses outstanding expertise and insight into WMD proliferation and strategic security, including new challenges such as those posed by conventional prompt global strike weapons (see, for instance, “Boost-glide Weapons and US-China Strategic Stability,” 22.2). I look forward to working with Joshua as I resume my role as managing editor.
I would like to thank CNS Director Dr. William Potter and Deputy Director Elena Sokova for the opportunity to serve as acting editor these past several months. I extend my heartfelt gratitude to all of the journal's authors, reviewers, commentators, and advisers for their contributions. I look forward to continuing this work in the months and years to come.
Please continue to send me your comments and views on any of the NPR's articles that pique your interest and spur your thinking on these subjects. Receiving feedback from readers is one of the most rewarding aspects of editing this journal, which continues to fill a unique niche in the nonproliferation community.