CNP Department of State Recommendations

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Recommendation #22

Create a US Government Nonproliferation Clearinghouse

We recommend that the State Department create an "information clearinghouse" for US Government-wide CNP activities. This office would have no operational authority over other US agency activities or programs. Its function would be to provide a focal point for collection and dissemination of information pertinent to all agency officials regarding the activities of their counterparts in other parts of the US Government. Critical to the success of this office would be the full participation of other government implementing agencies. Evidence gathered by this study suggests that both the Department of Energy and the Department of Defense would welcome this information sharing capability. Timely information regarding Global Partnership activities/objectives should also be made available through this office.

Recommendation #23

Shore Up Capacity at the Department of State

Ideally as a part of the global assessment outlined in Recommendation #1, redirect efforts should be prioritized according to the threats they represent. Budgetary needs should then be set accordingly. FSU-specific programs could be greatly facilitated by integrating the State Department redirect programs into the broader scope of US Government sustainability efforts and application of creative models to incentivize industry involvement as outlined in Recommendations #6 and #8. Programs such as BTEP could be reworked and expanded to absorb additional capacity and meet mutually identified needs in public health. Critical to success of these efforts, however, will be a reconceptualization of program execution based upon: (1) private sector involvement as employers rather than clients; (2) direct ownership; (3) market pull; and (4) connectivity to other US Government programs. More effective use of non-government organizations, such as the Civilian Research and Development Foundation and its Industry Partnerships program or the US Industry Coalition, can serve as a means to create needed commercial linkages at the outset and enhance the Department's capacity to achieve its redirect objectives. Both CRDF and USIC have already been engaged to some extent, but their participation should be enhanced through a more rigorous process of assessing needs, defining their respective roles, and creating the mechanisms for integral participation in achieving the US Government's objectives.

Recommendation #24

Rethink the Role of the STCs, Facility Conversion, and CRDF

As mentioned in Recommendation #8 (and #17 and #18 for DoE/NNSA-specific efforts), the two avenues for effectively engaging and leveraging the talent resident in the WMD complexes in the region are: (1) offering government support to meet mutually identified needs (e.g. the Biotechnology Engagement Program) where government agencies become sustained clients, or (2) offering innovative incentives to engage industry as potential employers. The specific action items directly applicable to State Department efforts include:

  • Engage the G8 business communities and the FSU target community in a rigorous informational exchange regarding the types of expertise available and potential advantages of employing the target community;
  • Bolster the capacity of CRDF's Industry Grants Program (First Steps to Market and Next Steps to Market) to increase private industry involvement in commercially viable initiatives;
  • Bridge the gap between current program funding for everything up to prototype development (STCs and CRDF's Industry Grants Program) and actual commercialization of the technology by creating an international version of the SBIR program available to collaborative efforts between industry partners and FSU scientists;
  • Find common cause across US Government Executive agencies including USAID, Health and Human Services, the National Institutes of Health, the Environmental Protection Agency and others to create an a la carte incentive structure to increase industry's participation as direct employers of the talent resident in the FSU that simultaneously supports other US Government objectives;
  • Incentivize collaborative efforts between businesses and FSU weapons expertise to meet the "market pull" of US Government efforts and joint US-Russia initiatives.

Recommendation #25

Eliminate Legislative Impediments to Progress

Congress should repeal the certification requirements included in the original Nunn-Lugar legislation, the FREEDOM Support Act, and the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2002. If repealing these requirements is politically infeasible, then Congress should, at a minimum, align the timing of certification and the Human Rights Report to increase the efficiency of the State Department's achievement of these separate reporting requirements.

 

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