Micah Zenko
Former Research Assistant to Graham Allison, 2003–2006; Former Research Associate, Project on Managing The Atom, 2006–2008
Experience
Former Research Assistant to Graham Allison, 2003–2006; Former Research Associate, Project on Managing The Atom, 2006–2008
AP Photo
February 21, 2012
"Ask the Experts: What Would Iran Do With a Bomb?"
Op-Ed, Politics, Power, and Preventive Action, A Council on Foreign Relations Blog
By Micah Zenko, Former Research Assistant to Graham Allison, 2003–2006; Former Research Associate, Project on Managing The Atom, 2006–2008, Kyle Beardsley, Sarah Kreps, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 2007–2008, Matthew Kroenig, Former Research Fellow, Project on Managing the Atom/International Security Program, 2007–2008, Annie Tracy Samuel, Research Fellow, International Security Program and Todd Sechser, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 2004–2006
"Iran's leaders, like those in other states, want to remain in power. They want the regime in which they have invested and which serves their interests to endure. Foreign policy, in addition to safeguarding Iran's borders and national integrity, is a means for safeguarding the regime. Possession of a nuclear weapon will likely make Iran more impervious to attack and may make Iran bolder in its support for armed groups. However, possessing a nuclear weapon will is not likely to alter Iran's paramount foreign policy goals of national and regime security."
NECSA
December 20, 2007
"A Nuclear Site Is Breached"
Op-Ed, Washington Post
By Micah Zenko, Former Research Assistant to Graham Allison, 2003–2006; Former Research Associate, Project on Managing The Atom, 2006–2008
"...nuclear terrorism is a global issue, extending far beyond the familiar policy talking points of U.S. cooperation with Russia over its nuclear stockpiles, the security of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal in the face of threats from Islamic extremists, and concerns that if Iran acquires nuclear capabilities it could provide a bomb to sympathetic terrorist organizations....the essential ingredients required for making a nuclear weapon exist in more than 40 countries, in facilities with differing levels of security. Unfortunately, there are still no binding global standards on how to secure nuclear weapons and weapons-grade nuclear material."
December 24, 2006
Get Everybody's Troops Out of Everywhere
Op-Ed, Boston Globe
By Micah Zenko, Former Research Assistant to Graham Allison, 2003–2006; Former Research Associate, Project on Managing The Atom, 2006–2008
WITH THE release of the Iraq Study Group's report and pending completion of two inter governmental reviews, a US policy change in Iraq is inevitable. The key to this policy change, in order to salvage the reputation and relevance of the United States, should be a new strategic shift based upon the principles on which America was founded -- a doctrine of non occupation.
September 2006
Intelligence Estimates of Nuclear Terrorism
Book Chapter
By Micah Zenko, Former Research Assistant to Graham Allison, 2003–2006; Former Research Associate, Project on Managing The Atom, 2006–2008
Nuclear terrorism is not a post-9/11 or even post-cold war phenomenon. In fact, this review of declassified intelligence estimates spanning the past five decades reveals that the prospect of a clandestine nuclear attack on the United States—be it from the Soviet Union, China, or al Qaeda—has been a regular concern for U.S. officials since the advent of nuclear weapons. Although the estimates themselves have been a mixed bag of quiet successes and failures, this article’s key findings suggest that the threat of nuclear terrorism is very real and that the U.S. government remains ill prepared to counter that threat.
August 29, 2006
Share the Evidence on Iran
Op-Ed, Washington Post
By Micah Zenko, Former Research Assistant to Graham Allison, 2003–2006; Former Research Associate, Project on Managing The Atom, 2006–2008
How long until Iran becomes a nuclear weapons state? The current best guess of American intelligence agencies is found in a classified National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) completed last summer: "Left to its own devices, Iran is determined to build nuclear weapons," it says, yet it is unlikely that Iran could produce enough highly enriched uranium for a bomb before "early to mid-next decade."
May 1, 2005
"Nuclear 9/11: What if Port is Ground Zero?"
Op-Ed, The Houston Chronicle
By Philipp C. Bleek, Former Research Fellow, Project on Managing the Atom/International Security Program, 2009–December 2010, Anders Corr and Micah Zenko, Former Research Assistant to Graham Allison, 2003–2006; Former Research Associate, Project on Managing The Atom, 2006–2008
Anticipate the worst by shoring up reserves for insurance losses.
February 3, 2005
Declare Victory, Bring Troops Home
Op-Ed, Baltimore Sun
By Micah Zenko, Former Research Assistant to Graham Allison, 2003–2006; Former Research Associate, Project on Managing The Atom, 2006–2008
ANTI-WAR LIBERALS, George H. W. Bush Republicans and even some neoconservative hawks have begun to coalesce around the same accurate position: America's continued troop presence in Iraq has only fed the insurgency. So with the elections over, it's time to bring the soldiers home.
August 2004
Designing A Secure Iraq: A US Policy Prescription
Journal Article, Third World Quarterly, issue 4, volume 25
By Micah Zenko, Former Research Assistant to Graham Allison, 2003–2006; Former Research Associate, Project on Managing The Atom, 2006–2008
Rebuilding of Iraq must take into consideration its geopolitical weakness.
March 12, 2004
Proliferation for Profit
Op-Ed, Baltimore Sun
By Micah Zenko, Former Research Assistant to Graham Allison, 2003–2006; Former Research Associate, Project on Managing The Atom, 2006–2008
Op-ed about Pakistan-based nuclear poliferation network
January 2004
Saving Lives with Speed: Using Rapidly Deployable Forces for Genocide Prevention
Journal Article, Defense and Security Analysis, volume 20
By Micah Zenko, Former Research Assistant to Graham Allison, 2003–2006; Former Research Associate, Project on Managing The Atom, 2006–2008
Saving Lives with Speed: Using Rapidly Deployable Forces for Genocide Prevention
