Opening Remarks
Brian Finlay, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Stimson Center
Under his tenure since 2016, Stimson has transformed its business model, launched pioneering new engagements across Asia, and industry-defining programming on environmental security, renewable energy, and technology. The Center also opened its first overseas office in Europe. As a result, the Center has tripled in size and continues to dramatically outperform similarly-sized institutions in global rankings. Notably, Stimson today boasts the most diverse and inclusive workforce of any major Washington think tank.
Featured Speakers
Michael Krepon, Co-founder of the Stimson Center
He served as Stimson’s President and CEO until 2000. He was appointed the University of Virginia’s Diplomat Scholar, where he taught from 2001-2010. He is the author and editor of twenty-two books, and worked previously at the Carnegie Endowment, the State Department’s Arms Control and Disarmament Agency during the Carter Administration, and on Capitol Hill. He received the Carnegie Endowment’s award for lifetime achievement in non-governmental work to reduce nuclear dangers in 2015.
Dr. Barry M. Blechman, Co-founder and a Distinguished Fellow of the Stimson Center.
He served as chairman of Stimson’s Board from 1989 to 2007 and returned to the Board in 2014. Dr. Blechman also founded DFI International Inc., a research consultancy, in 1984, and served as its CEO until the company’s sale in 2007. Dr. Blechman has more than fifty years of distinguished service in national security in both the public and private sectors.
Joan Rohlfing, President and Chief Operating Officer, NTI
Joan Rohlfing became president and chief operating officer of the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) in January 2010, after nine years as NTI’s senior vice president for programs and operations. She is responsible for managing all NTI programs and operations.
Available from Stanford University Press, Winning and Losing the Nuclear Peace tells a remarkable story of high-wire acts of diplomacy, close calls, dogged persistence, and extraordinary success. Michael Krepon brings to life the pitched battles between arms controllers and advocates of nuclear deterrence, the ironic twists and unexpected outcomes from Truman to Trump. What began with a ban on atmospheric testing and a nonproliferation treaty reached its apogee with treaties that mandated deep cuts and corralled “loose nukes” after the Soviet Union imploded.