Anniversary celebration highlights impact of science diplomacy on global security

Sandia’s Cooperative Monitoring Center celebrated its 30th anniversary on Sept. 12 at the Center for Global Security and Cooperation. The event drew more than 140 guests representing NNSA, the U.S. Department of State, non-governmental organizations, academia and international partners from across the globe.

“Thirty years ago, the visionaries who founded the CMC recognized the profound potential of cooperative monitoring to address some of the world’s most pressing security challenges,” Managing Director Amir Mohagheghi said in his opening remarks. “They understood that through technical collaboration and transparency, we could build a safer and more secure world.”

The CMC draws on Sandia’s scientific and technological expertise to build bridges between countries and inform regional and international policymaking around global security. This practice is called “science diplomacy,” a recent term and the topic of the keynote speech by Ambassador Shirin Tahir-Kheli, who served as a national security adviser to three U.S. presidents. “Science enables diplomacy by underpinning confidence in technical matters and thus is invaluable,” the ambassador said.

The daylong event featured panels on the center’s past, present, and future and included perspectives of its founders, longtime sponsors and partners, and the next generation of thinkers and leaders. Panelists included Princess Sumaya bint El Hassan, president of Jordan’s Royal Scientific Society; Mallory Stewart, assistant secretary for the U.S. Bureau of Arms Control, Deterrence, and Stability; Jooho Whang, president and CEO of Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power; Yongsoo Hwang, professor at KEPCO International Nuclear Graduate School; and Kasia Mendelsohn, principal assistant deputy administrator for Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation at the NNSA.

Devised in the wake of the Soviet Union’s dissolution and the beginning of nuclear stockpile stewardship, the CMC was a novel concept. Emerging regional issues heightened the need for arms control, nonproliferation and security agreements. The concept was to build trust and foster cooperation on a global scale by sharing knowledge of nuclear monitoring technologies with other nations.

“There were all these regions where there seemed to be political will to move toward agreements,” CMC co-founder Arian Pregenzer said. “Those agreements would be nothing if they weren’t implemented — and that meant technology.” In 1994, NNSA, with support from the Department of State, funded and launched the center with early focus on the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Northeast Asia.

Upon opening, the center’s six staffers began hosting technical and policy experts from Middle Eastern academic, government and military circles. As part of the Middle East peace process, discussions focused on monitoring and verification challenges related to arms control and regional security. Outside of Washington, D.C., these meetings were more relaxed, recalled panelist Mike Yaffe, who was then a Department of State foreign affairs officer concentrating on Middle East peace negotiations. Training workshops, technical collaborations and Track II, or unofficial diplomatic, meetings ensued.

The center originally occupied a strip mall outside the Eubank gate because there was no easy mechanism for hosting foreign visitors from sensitive countries on the military base. Joining virtually, former Sandia Deputy Laboratories Director Dori Ellis recalled her fostering of the International Security programs and the CMC as one of the most challenging and impactful initiatives of her career. When the International Programs building, later renamed to the Center for Global Security and Cooperation, was constructed outside the military installation in 2004, Ellis was there to cut the ribbon.

Early center successes included a cooperative monitoring experiment at border crossings between India and Pakistan. Justine Johannes, associate Laboratories director of Global Security, said this work was a major contributor to Sandia’s current border security portfolio. Sandia sponsored the establishment of two sister Cooperative Monitoring Centers — one in Jordan in 2004 and another in the United Arab Emirates in 2012, which began educating the first generation of nuclear enterprise professionals in the Gulf region. These organizations are known today, respectively, as the Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Threat Reduction Office located within the Royal Scientific Society, and the Gulf Nuclear Energy Infrastructure Institute.

Princess Sumaya addressed the anniversary audience in a video message from Jordan. “Ladies and gentlemen, my colleagues and I at the Royal Scientific Society of Jordan are immensely proud of our long partnership with so many of you here today. Through our rich and embedded partnership with Sandia and its network, we have greatly enhanced our ability to deal with the most pressing existential challenges to our region.” The video depicts many who were present at the anniversary and illustrates their longtime collaboration.

The anniversary’s Future of the CMC panel focused on the current multipolar, geostrategic environment and the many threats to global security. Distinguished panelists from the NNSA, Department of State and U.S. Naval War College emphasized the importance of cooperative engagement to counter discord and mistrust. “The CMC has established its core capabilities,” Mendelsohn said. “These capabilities will allow CMC to address future challenges — whatever they may be.”

Today, the CMC is globally recognized for convening roundtables on global security issues and exploring options to address them. Panelist and Sandia historian Justin Olmstead described the center as “thought leaders who drive innovation.”

“The key differentiation between the CMC and think tanks is that they are doers, not just thinkers,” Justin said.

Current global security studies conducted by the center address alternative geopolitical futures for tomorrow’s nuclear age and a framework for evaluating the risk landscape of emerging disruptive technologies.

“The challenges we face today are complex and multifaceted, but the spirit of cooperation and innovation that defines the CMC will continue to guide us,” Amir said. “Together, we will harness the power of technology and collaboration to contribute to a safer world.”

For more information on the CMC’s current work; Virtual Research Scholar program; speaker series; and Technology, Training, and Demonstration Area, visit cmc.sandia.gov.