James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies The
James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) is an American research center located in Monterey, California. It was founded in 1989 by
William Potter, world-renowned expert on nuclear non-proliferation. It is the largest nongovernmental organization in the world dedicated to studying, researching and training specialists in combating the spread of
Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). Its stated mission is "to train the next generation of nonproliferation specialists." CNS operates offices in Monterey,
Washington, D.C., and
Vienna. These offices offer a variety of programs. In 2007 it was renamed from the Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) in honor of
James Martin.
Publications CNS publishes
The Nonproliferation Review, a
double-blind peer-reviewed journal discussing the causes and consequences of Nuclear, Chemical, and Biological Weapons as well as their spread. It also focuses on different case studies, reports, and book reviews about many topics: weapons programs, treaties and export controls,
CBRN terrorism,
disarmament, and others. The review dates from 1994 to the present and is published in different months of the year.
The Inventory of International Nonproliferation Organizations and Regimes is a website that provides information related to disarmament, nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and arms control. It focuses on treaties, regimes and organizations from different parts of the world that deal with international security topics.
CNS Analysis and Papers is an online website that provides experts' analyzes of non-proliferation, disarmament, and other related topics. Papers are divided according to the regions (Americas, Asia, East Asia, Eurasia/Russia, Europe, Middle East/Africa, South Asia) and are mostly based on current events. Additionally, CNS provides the public with tutorials and videos where scholars and experts analyze current events related to non-proliferation. The
NukeTube Nonproliferation Multimedia Library provides readers with open public online material.
Center for the Blue Economy The
Center for the Blue Economy (CBE) is a research center managed by MIIS. CBE was founded in year 2011 and focuses mainly on research related to the ocean and the coastal economy. The center also complements the
International Environmental Policy program by offering specialization courses in Ocean and Coastal Resource Management. The center works in collaboration with various local and national organizations on a wide range of topics including
climate adaptation in coastal areas, governing environmental issues and also finding solutions to problems that are affecting ocean and coastal economies. CBE is home to the National Ocean Economics Program, which compiles, analyzes, and publishes economic data about changes and trends along the U.S. coast and in coastal waters. CBE also offers summer fellowships to the students to work on a wide range of projects related to ocean and coastal resource management. The Speakers Series (Sustainability Speaker Series and the Marine speaker series) organized by the center is a unique platform where experts working in different fields, mainly oceans and coastal issues, are invited to deliver lectures. This speaker series is organized every year and is open to students, researchers, faculty, and the public. The center has its own peer-reviewed journal
Journal of Ocean and Coastal Economics (JOCE) that has published around 57 research articles.
Center on Terrorism, Extremism, and Counterterrorism (CTEC) The
Center on Terrorism, Extremism, and Counterterrorism (CTEC), formerly known as the
Monterey Terrorism Research Education Program (MonTREPP), and before that the
Weapons of Mass Destruction Terrorism Research Program (WMDTRP), is a
research center at the
Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey(MIIS), in
Monterey, California. CTEC is staffed by professionals employed in the fields of
terrorism studies,
counterterrorism, and
countering violent extremism, as well as professors working for MIIS. CTEC conducts in-depth research on
terrorism and other forms of
extremism. It is one of a handful of designated "Terrorism Research Centers," in the United States. CTEC's research focus is on three crucial areas:
threat finance and
sanctions, extremist messaging and terrorist use of the internet,
terrorist special operations and countering the threat of terrorism. CTEC engages faculty experts and graduate students in
mixed-methods research on terrorist threats, extremist networks, and counterterrorism responses. Its work encompasses several key domains, including
militant accelerationism, the study of
online extremism and digital platforms for radicalization,
threat financing and sanctioning as tools to disrupt
extremist groups, and programs for preventing and
countering violent extremism (P/CVE). The center also examines the implications of emerging technologies for extremist activity and
counterterrorism practice. CTEC, as a self-sustaining research center, will remain part of the Middlebury umbrella after the school in Monterey is permanently closed. Before joining the Institute, he had spent a decade as director of the
Counterterrorism Finance and Designations Office,
Bureau of Counterterrorism,
Department of State, where he worked on issues related to the designation and sanctioning of terrorist organizations. Earlier in his career, he held additional roles in the counterterrorism and intelligence fields within the federal government. Blazakis’s vision for the newly established CTEC was to examine terrorism through the study of behavior, ideology, methodology, and operations. He outlined three main areas where the center would direct its research: • threat finance and sanctions • extremist messaging and the use of online platforms • the role of special operations in countering violent extremism. The first area was intended to provide expert analysis on the financial networks associated with terrorism, crime, and proliferation. The second sought to examine social media and other digital forums to better understand how extremist messaging motivated individuals to violence. The third was linked to the
Special Operations Research Database(SORD), a project led by Middlebury College professor
Orion Lewis, which CTEC planned to support by making the database a resource for studying the deployment and effectiveness of
special operations in counterterrorism. He still maintains a role as a professor at MIIS, but spends much of his time teaching online courses due to his commitments on the East Coast. In the interim, the role of Director of CTEC was assumed by Dr. Katharine Petrich.
Partnership with META In 2022, Meta established a research partnership with the Center on Terrorism, Extremism, and Counterterrorism at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies to study developments in violent extremism and assess methods for supporting community-based responses. The collaboration was intended to study patterns of violent extremism and evaluate strategies to strengthen community-based responses. In addition, Meta organized a program of trainings, workshops, and skill-building sessions that aimed to equip local partners working against hate-motivated violence with resources and techniques to amplify their efforts.
Weapons of Mass Destruction Terrorism Research Program (WMDTRP) In the early 2000's, the
Weapons of Mass Destruction Terrorism Research Program (WMDTRP) was established by Dr. Gary Ackerman as a program of the
Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the
Monterey Institute of International Studies in
Monterey, California. The work of WMDTRP focused on issues at the intersection of terrorism and weapons of mass destruction (WMD), with particular attention to the possibility of non-state actors acquiring or using chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear (CBRN) weapons and materials. The program examined factors that might motivate terrorist organizations to pursue WMD, and aimed to provide analysis that could inform policymakers, scholars, and the public. • Analysis • Data Collection • Education • Community Outreach The program was directed by Gary Ackerman and staffed by scholars with expertise in social sciences, physical sciences, and policy studies. Senior staff included Jeffrey M. Bale and Gaurav Kampani, with research associates such as Praveen Abhayaratne, Charles Blair, Sammy Salama, and Sundara Vadlamudi. Graduate student research assistants from the Monterey Institute contributed to the program as part of their training in nonproliferation studies. The WMDTRP maintained a database, called the WMD Terrorism Research Database. After MonTREP was established in 2006, WMDTRP continued to exist, but primarily to maintain the database.
Monterey Terrorism Research Education Program (MonTREP) The
Monterey Terrorism Research and Education Program (MonTREP) was a research center at the
Monterey Institute of International Studies (MIIS), in
Monterey, California. Established as part of the institute's Graduate School of International Policy Studies (GSIPS), it carried out research, policy analysis, and public education on terrorism and international security. The program focused on the study of
extremist groups, including their historical development,
ideology,
organizational structures,
demographics, and
operational methods, with particular attention to the potential for mass-casualty attacks and the possible acquisition of
weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Its research was aimed to inform both
policymakers and the
general public about the motivations and strategies of terrorist actors in order to support more effective counterterrorism policies. The first president of the club signed their posts to the club's newsletter as "C." TSC held annual student-driven conferences on terrorism in Monterey. The second annual conference, which was held from March 6-7, 2014, was focused on terrorism and counterterrorism in Africa. There were panel discussions and a keynote address was made by Congressman
Jim Kolbe. Over 100 people attended the conference. The last entry from the TSC was posted to their newsletter on January 28, 2016, detailing the MonTREP Antiquities Conference.
History (2006-2018) On January 20, 2005, MIIS was awarded a grant to focus on reducing worldwide terrorism. By 2006, MIIS had established a program aimed at addressing the goals of this grant, called the Monterey Terrorism Research Education Program (MonTREP).
Fred Wehling and Gary Ackerman served in 2006 as MonTREP's research directors, and
Moyara Ruehsen was serving as MonTREP's education director. The senior researcher at the time was
Jeffrey Bale, who had been working at MIIS for several years. Bale served as director of MonTREP during the 10th anniversary of the
September 11 attacks. In September 2012, retired Brigadier General
Russell D. Howard, a
Special Forces veteran and MIIS graduate, was appointed director of MonTREP, replacing Bale, who remained in a teaching role. Before this role, he directed the
Jebsen Center for Counterterrorism Studies at the
Fletcher School, served as head of the Department of Social Sciences and founding director of the
Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, and previously commanded the
1st Special Forces Group (Airborne) at
Fort Lewis, Washington. He also held an appointment as Army Chief of Staff Fellow at
Harvard University’s Center for International Affairs. By the time of his appointment, he had authored and edited multiple works on terrorism. Howard's replacement as interim director in 2014 was
Sharad Joshi, who had been working as a Research Associate at MonTREP since 2008, after transferring from his postdoctoral fellowship at the
James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS). General Howard remained in the program for several years as an associate professor. On January 5, 2015, a delegation from China’s
Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) visited MonTREP. During the visit, graduate students Leslie Wukstich, Jonathan Prohov, and Marc Elliott delivered presentations examining the links between
threat finance and unconventional
funding sources for terrorism. Prohov and Elliott discussed a MonTREP research project on antiquities trafficking as a form of terrorist financing and highlighted an op-ed they had co-authored with General Howard. The presentations were followed by a question-and-answer session, with consecutive translation provided by a student from the MIIS language department, Flora (Tian) Zhang. MonTREP experts
Melissa Hanham and
Stephanie Lieggi also participated in the discussions. By 2016, MonTREP was casting out for a new Director, placing adds for professors of MANTPS to be available to become the director of the new program. In 2018, MonTREP was redesigned and elevated from program status into a fully-fledged center, and rebranded as the Center on Terrorism, Extremism, and Counterterrorism (CTEC).
Publications The
Islam, Islamism and Politics in Eurasia Report (IIPER) was a periodical established by
Gordon M. Hahn. Produced between November 2009 and early 2013, it issued 67 editions and covered political developments related to Islam, Islamism, and jihadist movements in Russia and the wider Eurasian region. Hahn compiled, edited, and authored most of the content. IIPER was initially published through Hahn’s affiliation with the MonTREP, where he was serving as senior researcher and adjunct professor. In September 2011, publication of the report was transferred to the
Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in
Washington, D.C., where Hahn was a non-resident senior associate in the Russia and Eurasia Program until the report ceased in 2013. == William Tell Coleman Library ==