The Road to Korea 2012: Nuclear Security Summits and Global Efforts to Prevent Nuclear Terrorism

Numerous national security assessments have delineated the urgency of the threat of nuclear terrorism and warned that more needs to be done to ensure that terrorists never obtain a nuclear weapon or the materials that can be used to build one. In April 2010, President Obama convened an unprecedented number of world leaders in Washington, DC, to discuss steps that could be taken to enhance nuclear security internationally. At the Nuclear Security Summit (NSS), the 47 participating nations and 3 international organizations pledged their support for President Obama’s goal of securing all vulnerable nuclear material within four years and made commitments to take concrete measures toward achieving it.

In order to assess the contributions of the 2010 summit to global nuclear security and contemplate the role of the next NSS, to be held in the Republic of Korea in 2012, the Stanley Center hosted a roundtable dialogue October 14-16, 2010, at its 51st Strategy for Peace Conference in Warrenton, Virginia. In addition to the summits, roundtable participants considered broader efforts to combat nuclear terrorism, including building international consensus on the threat and taking additional measures necessary to meet the four-year goal and to sustain nuclear security efforts.

This policy dialogue brief captures the discussion of roundtable participants, including key recommendations related to the next Nuclear Security Summit and furthering the global nuclear security agenda.