Controlling and Securing Nuclear Materials: Multilateral Approaches

President Obama’s Prague speech in April 2009 laid out his administration’s goal of securing all vulnerable nuclear material worldwide within four years. Given the heightened importance of this global effort, the Stanley Center convened approximately 35 governmental and nongovernmental officials in Washington on December 2, 2009, to examine practical steps toward meeting this goal. Participants included international leading experts and diplomats, in addition to ranking UN officials and US nongovernmental analysts.

The group agreed on the importance of making nuclear security a higher global priority and that nuclear security challenges cannot be met without ongoing multilateral action. Participants also examined the role of the upcoming heads of state summit hosted by President Obama and that of the International Atomic Energy Agency in addressing the challenges.