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Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Exclusive: Nunn, Fortenberry Discuss Future of Nuclear Security

COURTESY NUCLEAR THREAT INITIATIVE Former Sen. Sam Nunn (D-Ga.) will speak at a March 16 panel at Georgetown University to discuss emerging threats to nuclear security.
COURTESY NUCLEAR THREAT INITIATIVE
Former Sen. Sam Nunn (D-Ga.) will speak at a March 16 panel at Georgetown University to discuss emerging threats to nuclear security.

Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (GRD ’86, R-Neb.) and former Senator Sam Nunn (D-Ga.), along with former Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) and former U.K. Defense Minister Desmond Browne, will discuss nuclear security threats in the 21st century at a March 16 event co-hosted by the Center for Security Studies and the International Relations Club.

Fortenberry, who currently co-chairs the Congressional Nuclear Security Caucus, and Nunn, who is the CEO of the Nuclear Threat Initiative, a nongovernmental organization focused on reducing the risk of the proliferation and use of weapons of mass destruction, each spoke to The Hoya in advance of the event to discuss emerging threats, the ongoing Iranian nuclear negotiations and their desire to involve college students in the issue.

Fortenberry, who co-founded the nuclear security caucus in 2008, noted that advances in technology had made nuclear weapon proliferation even more dangerous, requiring the caucus as a specialized response.

“The technology for nuclear weapons making has spread very rapidly and it will only continue to spread,” Fortenberry said. “And the key here is to develop a heightened awareness and deeper understanding not only in Congress but throughout the world of the great dangers of this so that we can all try to come to some various kinds of agreements that would control particularly the materials that go into nuclear weapons production.”

Of particular concern to Fortenberry was the danger of nuclear material, or even entire weapons, falling into the hands of terrorist organizations.

“The problem in the 21st century is if a non-state actor were to get a hold of a completed nuclear weapon or the materials that could make some sort of rudimentary dirty bomb type element that wouldn’t be destructive as a nuclear weapon itself but nonetheless it could cause widespread damage and panic,” Fortenberry said.

After the September 11 attacks, worries about outdated missile technology and faulty security mechanisms were widespread. Through the efforts of the Nuclear Threat Initiative in setting up the World Institute of Nuclear Security, nuclear material has increasingly been secured around the world.

“The number of states that no longer have any loose fissile material has been cut basically in half,” Fortenberry said.

In addition to the worries over nuclear terrorism, Nunn said that the threat of nuclear war between states still loomed large.

“If you look at it, the old threats haven’t disappeared. … We’re in a new era, but we still have the old ones, so that’s the challenge,” Nunn said. “It’s pretty clear we have significant dangers in terms of possible state conflict.”

Professor of security studies and government Keir Lieber, who will deliver opening remarks at the event, concurred, explaining that the theory of mutually assured destruction, which states that the threat of retaliation would prevent countries from using nuclear weapons, was a false comfort.

“U.S. nuclear policy throughout the Cold War was to escalate conventional war to the nuclear level in order to bring that war to a halt before it was too late,” Lieber said. “Deliberate rational state use of nuclear weapons as part of a coercive escalation strategy is a real danger, and it’s not clear to me that we’ve focused enough attention on this.”

The panel comes in the middle of one such state-centered challenge, the current nuclear negotiations between Iran and the United States, United Kingdom, France, China, Russia and Germany, who are attempting to curtail Iran’s ability to develop nuclear weapons.

“Iran has had the knowledge and technical capability to at least enrich and establish their commodities,” Nunn said. “The question is if we can stop them from converting that technical knowhow into making the bomb.”

Acknowledging that governments had much more sway in diplomatic affairs than nongovernmental organizations such as NTI, Nunn said that the challenge of the negotiations was keeping domestic and foreign interests united.

“If you look at the nature of the challenges here in Iran, it’s having Congress and the president work together, and that’s obviously not happening,” Nunn said. “The second major challenge is having the United States and its key ally of Israel working together, and that’s obviously not happening. And the third challenge is keeping the countries that are engaging in the boycott together, Russia, China and Europe. That’s not an easy group to keep together.”

Fortenberry said that he had no direct involvement with the negotiation but was informally involved in diplomatic discussions around the issue: If an agreement is reached with Iran, Congress will have to vote on whether to lift sanctions on the country. Accordingly, the congressman said that the issue of nuclear weapons must be a bipartisan effort, pointing to his relationship with Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) with whom he co-founded the nuclear security caucus.

“This is a matter of life and death, it’s what we call an existential issue,” Fortenberry said. “It should transcend any kind of partisan divide.”

On March 16, the two will speak at a panel at Georgetown to attempt to convince college students of the importance of nuclear security in coming years.

“It’s a complicated set of issues, and it doesn’t lend itself necessarily to motivating and exciting people,” Fortenberry said. “The tragedy of what could happen is so great that nobody really wants to look at it, think about it, so that’s why [we’re having] this event. … Hopefully, it gains momentum among the next generation for engagement.”

Since many of the goals of the Nuclear Threat Initiative require a long-term focus, such as significantly reducing the nuclear arsenal, Nunn emphasized the necessity of involving students in the issues.

“I would like to see nuclear weapons eliminated ultimately and have a world with tight verifications … but that’s many years down the road,” Nunn said. “The young generation is going to have to live with this for a long time … so having a knowledge about the dangers here and the continuing challenge for the younger generation is very, very important.”

Hoya Staff Writer Katherine Richardson contributed reporting.

This article has been updated.

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