Former Senator Bob Graham (left), at a Center seminar, discusses recommendations of the report "World at Risk" by the Commission on the Prevention of WMD Proliferation and Terrorism, which he chaired. Also pictured: Tad Oelstrom.
Belfer Center

"Panel Calls on President and Congress to Address WMD Proliferation"

Newsletter Article, Belfer Center Newsletter, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School

Spring 2009

Author: Sasha Talcott, Director of Communications and Outreach

Belfer Center director Graham Allison served on the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism, which released its report in December. The congressionally appointed Commission called on then President-elect Barack Obama and Congress to immediately initiate several concrete actions, unilaterally and with the international community, to address the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction that pose the greatest peril: nuclear and biological weapons.

The commissioners briefed Vice President Joseph Biden, then President George W. Bush and congressional leaders on the report's findings in December. The Commission centered its findings on several areas where it determined the risks to the United States are increasing: the crossroads of terrorism and proliferation in the poorly governed parts of Pakistan, the prevention of biological and nuclear terrorism, and the potential erosion of international nuclear security, treaties, and norms as we enter a nuclear energy renaissance.

The Commission was chaired by former Senator Bob Graham, a Belfer Center affiliate and former senior fellow.

"Ours remains a world at risk and our margin of safety is shrinking, not growing. The Commission believes that unless the world community acts decisively and with great urgency, it is likely that a weapon of mass destruction will be used in a terrorist attack somewhere in the world by the end of 2013," Graham said. He said the Commission reached this sobering conclusion following six months of deliberations, site visits, and interviews with more than 250 government officials and nongovernmental experts in the United States and abroad.

In addition to Graham and Allison, other commissioners included: former Senator Jim Talent, the Commission's vice chairman; Robin Cleveland, former counselor to the president of the World Bank; Ambassador Wendy R. Sherman; Henry D. Sokolski, executive director of the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center; Stephen G. Rademaker, U.S. representative on the U.N. Secretary General's Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters; former U.S. Representative Timothy J. Roemer; and Rich Verma, former senior national security advisor to the Senate majority leader.

The WMD report also details concrete recommendations to ensure a more efficient and effective domestic policy coordination structure, oversight reform, and enhanced cooperation among appropriate law-enforcement and counterterrorism communities.

For more information about this publication please contact the Belfer Center Communications Office at 617-495-9858.

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