ISA-Midwest Call for Papers

The 2009 ISA Midwest conference will be held in St. Louis, November 6-8, 2009.  The call for papers is available on-line at http://isa-m.missouri.edu/. Proposals should be received by August 31, 2009.

This year’s ISA Midwest conference will feature a roundtable reviewing a project assessing global nuclear stability. The project produced by the United States Strategic Command's Global Innovation and Strategy Center (GISC) reviewed tools and methodologies for assessing global nuclear stability in a multipolar world. As America prepares to review its defense and nuclear posture, the Department of Defense customer told GISC leaders it is more vital than ever to understand how both friends and potential adversaries look at the acquisition, proliferation and use of nuclear weapons. A team of senior policy and analytical experts engaged in two workshops held in February and April 2009 to identify and define relevant nuclear stability indicators in the diplomatic, information, military, economic, and other realms existing within nation-states. A resulting set of tools and methodologies now exists for assessing how both America's friends and competitors view nuclear stability. The project has been briefed and has already been called a significant step in building the nation's understanding of how friends and potential adversaries look at nuclear weapons.

Following a presentation of the project, Paul Diehl, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Sumit Ganguly, Indiana University, and Mary Habeck, SAIS, The Johns Hopkins University will offer observations.