home > the cfr think tank > experts > charles d. ferguson
Philip D. Reed Senior Fellow for Science and Technology
Contact Info:
Phone: +1-202-509-8460
E-mail: msmith@cfr.org
Location:
Washington, DC
Media downloads:
One-page bio (PDF, 54K)
CV (PDF, 285K)
Video clip (MP4, 601K)
Video clip (WMV, 504K)
Recipient of the Robert S. Landauer Memorial Lecturer Award for outstanding scientific achievement toward improving the security of radioactive sources. Author of the Council Special Report Nuclear Energy: Balancing Benefits and Risks and director of the Council Special Report China, Space Weapons, and U.S. Security.
Expertise:Nuclear nonproliferation; nuclear and radiological terrorism; prevention and response; U.S. and international nuclear policies; arms control, climate change, energy policy, and nuclear energy.
Experience:Adjunct Lecturer, National Security Studies Program, Johns Hopkins University (current); Adjunct Assistant Professor, School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University (current); Scientist-in-Residence, Center for Nonproliferation Studies, Monterey Institute of International Studies (2002-2004); Foreign Affairs Officer, Office of the Senior Coordinator for Nuclear Safety, Bureau of Nonproliferation, U.S. Department of State (2000-2002); Senior Research Analyst and Director, Nuclear Policy Project, Federation of American Scientists (1998-2000); U.S. Naval Officer, served in nuclear submarine program (1987-90).
Honors:Robert S. Landauer Memorial Lecturer Award, Health Physics Society, for outstanding scientific achievement toward improving the security of radioactive sources (2003); Best Paper, American Nuclear Society, on Russian nuclear submarine dismantlement (2002); Teaching Fellow Innovative Performance Award, Physics Department, Boston University (1994); Gertrude and Maurice Goldhaber Prize, Boston University, in recognition of outstanding achievement by a first-year graduate student in physics (1993); Congressional Medal of Honor Society Prize, U.S. Naval Academy, for exceptional work in physics (1987).
Selected Publications:Nuclear Energy: Balancing Benefits and Risks, A Council Special Report (Council on Foreign Relations Press, 2007);U.S.-India Nuclear Cooperation: A Strategy for Moving Forward, A Council Special Report (coauthor, Council on Foreign Relations Press, 2006); Preventing Catastropic Nuclear Terrorism, A Council Special Report (Council on Foreign Relations Press, 2006); “Strengthening Nuclear Safeguards: Special Committee to the Rescue?” Arms Control Today (coauthor, 2005); The Four Faces of Nuclear Terrorism (coauthor, Routledge, 2005); “Can Bush or Kerry Prevent Nuclear Terrorism?” Arms Control Today (2004); “The Four Faces of Nuclear Terror and the Need for a Prioritized Response,” Foreign Affairs (coauthor, May/June 2004); “Schooling Iran’s Atom Squad,” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (coauthor, May/June 2004); “Securing U.S. Radioactive Sources,” Issues in Science and Technology (coauthor, Fall 2003); “Commercial Radioactive Sources: Surveying the Security Risks,” Occasional Paper No. 11, Center for Nonproliferation Studies, Monterey Institute of International Studies (coauthor, January 2003); “Chinese Tactical Nuclear Weapons,” Tactical Nuclear Weapons: Emergent Threats in an Evolving Security Environment (coauthor, Brassey’s, 2003).
Conference Papers:
Related Links:
CFR's International Institutions and Global Governance Program
Current Research Projects
Past Research Projects
June 30, 2009
Audio
Listen to CFR Experts Charles D. Ferguson and Stephen Sestanovich discuss the Obama-Medvedev summit.
June 19, 2009
Op-Ed
Foreign Policy
Charles Ferguson argues that "fresh sanctions on a cash-poor North Korean regime could help cause exactly the situation we hope to prevent - nuclear proliferation."
See more in North Korea, U.S. Strategy and Politics
June 17, 2009
Testimony
Charles D. Ferguson gives an "Assessment of the Proliferation Risks of Spent Fuel Reprocessing and Alternative Nuclear Waste Management Strategies," before the House Committee on Science and Technology.
See more in Health, Science, and Technology, Proliferation, Arms Control and Disarmament
May 27, 2009
Op-Ed
Wall Street Journal
William J. Perry, Brent Scowcroft, and Charles D. Ferguson discuss an effective strategy to reduce the dangers of nuclear proliferation and nuclear terrorism.
See more in North Korea, Proliferation, Weapons of Mass Destruction
May 19, 2009
Transcript
Policymakers, analysts, and expert observers gathered in Washington, DC, for the Council on Foreign Relations’ Workshop on Evaluating and Strengthening the Nonproliferation Regime. Over the course of three sessions, workshop participants addressed these and other questions about the overall health of the nonproliferation regime, and how to improve it over the near and long terms.
See more in Global Governance, Proliferation
May 19, 2009
Transcript
Policymakers, analysts, and expert observers gathered in Washington, DC, for the Council on Foreign Relations’ Workshop on Evaluating and Strengthening the Nonproliferation Regime. Over the course of three sessions, workshop participants addressed these and other questions about the overall health of the nonproliferation regime, and how to improve it over the near and long terms.
See more in Global Governance, Proliferation
May 18, 2009
Transcript
Policymakers, analysts, and expert observers gathered in Washington, DC, for the Council on Foreign Relations’ Workshop on Evaluating and Strengthening the Nonproliferation Regime. Over the course of three sessions, workshop participants addressed these and other questions about the overall health of the nonproliferation regime, and how to improve it over the near and long terms.
See more in Global Governance, Proliferation
May 8, 2009
Video
Watch experts analyze current nuclear nonproliferation agreements, as well as how to address the nuclear ambitions of countries such as India and Iran.
This session was part of the CFR conference: The United States and the Future of Global Governance, which was made possible through the generous support of the Robina Foundation.
See more in Global Governance, Proliferation
May 8, 2009
Audio
Listen to experts analyze current nuclear nonproliferation agreements, as well as how to address the nuclear ambitions of countries such as India and Iran.
This session was part of the CFR conference: The United States and the Future of Global Governance, which was made possible through the generous support of the Robina Foundation.
See more in Global Governance, Proliferation
May 2009
Op-Ed
Foreign Policy
Charles D. Ferguson discusses the complications surrounding the selection of the next director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
See more in Proliferation, Arms Control and Disarmament
May 1, 2009
Audio
Listen to CFR expert Charles D. Ferguson and General Brent Scowcroft, former national security adviser, discuss a new report of an Independent Task Force on U.S. nuclear weapons policy.
See more in Defense/Homeland Security, Proliferation
May 1, 2009, New York, NY
Transcript
This Council on Foreign Relations press conference call discussed the release of the report of the independent task force on U.S. nuclear weapons policy.
See more in United States, Proliferation
April 2009
Task Force Report No. 62
Task Force Report
This report finds that nuclear weapons will remain a fundamental element of U.S. national security in the near term, and makes recommendations on how to ensure the safety, security, and reliability of the U.S. deterrent nuclear force, prevent nuclear terrorism, and strengthen the nuclear nonproliferation regime.
See more in United States, Proliferation
February 4, 2009
Op-Ed
International Herald Tribune
Dinshaw Mistry and Charles D. Ferguson urge Europe and the United States not to rush decisions on deploying a missile defense system in Europe.
See more in Europe/Russia, Iran, Defense Technology, U.S. Strategy and Politics
January 18, 2009
Op-Ed
The National
Charles Ferguson looks at the nuclear energy agreement between the United Arab Emirates and the United States.
See more in United States, Middle East, Energy
January 15, 2009
Op-Ed
Huffington Post
Charles Ferguson looks at valuable lessons in the U.S. reaction to the 1973 Arab Oil Embargo.
See more in Central/Eastern Europe, Energy, Energy Security
January/February 2009
Article
Foreign Policy
Charles Ferguson and Michelle Smith argue that nuclear energy "will not be the miracle cure for energy dependence or global warming that boosters promise."
See more in Energy/Environment
September 18, 2008
Audio
Listen to Bruce Walter MacDonald, senior director, Congressional Commission on the Strategic Posture of the United States, discuss China's space, counterspace, and satellite programs and their implications for U.S.-China relations.
See more in China, Defense Strategy, National Security and Defense
September 18, 2008
Transcript
A Council Special Report of China, Space Weapons and U.S. Security.
See more in United States, China, Defense/Homeland Security, National Security and Defense
September/October 2008
Article
Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
Charles D. Ferguson and Michelle Smith consider the future of the nuclear energy supply.
See more in Energy Security
Explore international efforts to curb nuclear proliferation with a new interactive from CFR's program on International Institutions and Global Governance.
The Canadian oil sands present an important challenge to policymakers: they promise energy security benefits but present climate change problems. Michael A. Levi assesses the energy security and climate change effects of the oil sands and makes recommendations for U.S. policymakers within the context of broader bilateral relations with Canada.
This report explores an important element of the maritime policy regime: the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Author Scott G. Borgerson examines the international negotiations that led to the convention, the history of debates in the United States over whether to join it, and the strategic importance of the oceans for U.S. foreign policy today.
Complete list of Council Special Reports
In War of Necessity, War of Choice, Richard N. Haass contrasts the decisions that shaped the conduct of two wars between the United States and Iraq involving the two presidents Bush and Saddam Hussein, and writes an authoritative, personal account of how U.S. foreign policy is made, what it should seek, and how it should be pursued.
In Cuba: What Everyone Needs to Know, Julia E. Sweig presents a remarkably accessible portrait of Cuba’s unique place on the world stage over the past fifty years, including its internal politics, its often fraught relationship with the United States, and its shifting relationship with the global community.
As Ray Takeyh shows in Guardians of the Revolution, behind the famous personalities and extremist slogans of Iran is a nation that is far more pragmatic—and complex—than many in the West have been led to believe.
Complete list of CFR Books
For more information on the David Rockefeller Studies Program, contact:
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Director of the Maurice R. Greenberg Center for
Geoeconomic Studies, Deputy Director of Studies, and Paul A. Volcker Senior
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