CNS Experts Quoted on Developments in Iran, Japan, Syria and the U.S.

November 10, 2011

November has been another busy month for the experts of the Monterey Institute’s James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS), who were sought out by members of the news media from all over the world for their comments about global security challenges in the news.

Nov. 1 - The Washington Post in the article “Supercomputers offer tools for nuclear testing – and solving nuclear mysteries” quoted Jeffrey Lewis, nuclear weapons expert and director of the CNS East Asia Nonproliferation Program on the importance of computer modeling for better understanding of how thermonuclear weapons work.

Nov, 2 - In an article about an attempt to create a weapon of mass destruction from castor beans (“Alleged ricin plot in Georgia was a long shot”), the Washington Post bases its findings on a quote from Raymond Zilinskas, Monterey Institute professor and director of the CNS Chemical and Biological Weapons Program.

Nov. 4 - The Washington Post again interviews Jeffrey Lewis, this time about global concern regarding Iran’s nuclear ambitions, in “Behind anti-Iran rhetoric, fears of nuclear gains.”

Nov. 7 – The U.K. Guardian’s Julian Borger interviewed CNS senior fellow and MIIS Nonproliferation and Terrorism Studies professor Avner Cohen for the article “Iran nuclear report: IAEA claims Tehran working on advanced warhead.”

Nov. 8 – CNS Scientist-in-Residence Ferenc Dalnoki-Veress was quoted in the official New Scientist blog “Fukushima scare prompts look at ‘criticality’ criteria.”

Nov. 8 – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s article “Four accused in terror plot appear in court” uses quotes from Raymond Zilinskas to shed a light of the case against four men accused of plotting to create a weapon of mass destruction out of ricin extracted from castor beans.

Nov. 9 - The publication of the International Atomic Energy Agency report about Iran’s nuclear program caused a number of additional national and international news outlets to seek out experts from MIIS and CNS:

• Two of India’s most prominent publications featured Avner Cohen. India Today quoted him in the article “IAEA report: World stares at Iran-Israel conflict,” and his writings about the subject were recommended readings in an opinion column in The Hindu titled “Engaging Iran’s nuclear peril.”
• An Associated Press news story widely republished in media outlets throughout the United States and beyond, titled “Engineer: suspected Syria nuke site for textiles” cited a Monterey Institute analysis of satellite imagery of a Syrian industrial complex.
• The Guardian’s Julian Borger quoted Jeffrey Lewis in his Global Security blog.

Nov. 10 - An opinion column "To Save Our Economy, Ditch Taiwan," in the New York Times by Paul V. Kane prominently features Jeffrey Lewis.

Nov. 11 - Jeffrey Lewis is also featured in the article "There is no nuclear threat - but if we attack Iran there soon will be," published in the New Statesman on Veteran's Day.

Finally, the September issue of the CTBTO Spectrum magazine includes a two-page interview with Patricia Lewis, Deputy Director of CNS.

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