home > the cfr think tank > experts > charles d. ferguson
Philip D. Reed Senior Fellow for Science and Technology
Contact Info:
Phone: +1-202-509-8460
E-mail: msmith@cfr.org
Location:
Washington, DC
Media downloads:
One-page bio (PDF, 55K)
CV (PDF, 285K)
Video clip (MP4, 601K)
Video clip (WMV, 504K)
Recipient of the Robert S. Landauer Memorial Lecturer Award for outstanding scientific achievement toward improving the security of radioactive sources. Author of the Council Special Report Nuclear Energy: Balancing Benefits and Risks and director of the Council Special Report China, Space Weapons, and U.S. Security.
Expertise:Nuclear nonproliferation; nuclear and radiological terrorism; prevention and response; U.S. and international nuclear policies; arms control, climate change, energy policy, and nuclear energy.
Experience:Adjunct Lecturer, National Security Studies Program, Johns Hopkins University (current); Adjunct Assistant Professor, School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University (current); Scientist-in-Residence, Center for Nonproliferation Studies, Monterey Institute of International Studies (2002-2004); Foreign Affairs Officer, Office of the Senior Coordinator for Nuclear Safety, Bureau of Nonproliferation, U.S. Department of State (2000-2002); Senior Research Analyst and Director, Nuclear Policy Project, Federation of American Scientists (1998-2000); U.S. Naval Officer, served in nuclear submarine program (1987-90).
Honors:Robert S. Landauer Memorial Lecturer Award, Health Physics Society, for outstanding scientific achievement toward improving the security of radioactive sources (2003); Best Paper, American Nuclear Society, on Russian nuclear submarine dismantlement (2002); Teaching Fellow Innovative Performance Award, Physics Department, Boston University (1994); Gertrude and Maurice Goldhaber Prize, Boston University, in recognition of outstanding achievement by a first-year graduate student in physics (1993); Congressional Medal of Honor Society Prize, U.S. Naval Academy, for exceptional work in physics (1987).
Selected Publications:Nuclear Energy: Balancing Benefits and Risks, A Council Special Report (Council on Foreign Relations Press, 2007);U.S.-India Nuclear Cooperation: A Strategy for Moving Forward, A Council Special Report (coauthor, Council on Foreign Relations Press, 2006); Preventing Catastropic Nuclear Terrorism, A Council Special Report (Council on Foreign Relations Press, 2006); “Strengthening Nuclear Safeguards: Special Committee to the Rescue?” Arms Control Today (coauthor, 2005); The Four Faces of Nuclear Terrorism (coauthor, Routledge, 2005); “Can Bush or Kerry Prevent Nuclear Terrorism?” Arms Control Today (2004); “The Four Faces of Nuclear Terror and the Need for a Prioritized Response,” Foreign Affairs (coauthor, May/June 2004); “Schooling Iran’s Atom Squad,” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (coauthor, May/June 2004); “Securing U.S. Radioactive Sources,” Issues in Science and Technology (coauthor, Fall 2003); “Commercial Radioactive Sources: Surveying the Security Risks,” Occasional Paper No. 11, Center for Nonproliferation Studies, Monterey Institute of International Studies (coauthor, January 2003); “Chinese Tactical Nuclear Weapons,” Tactical Nuclear Weapons: Emergent Threats in an Evolving Security Environment (coauthor, Brassey’s, 2003).
Current Research Projects
Past Research Projects
January/February 2009
Article
Foreign Policy
Charles Ferguson and Michelle Smith argue that nuclear energy "will not be the miracle cure for energy dependence or global warming that boosters promise."
See more in Energy/Environment
September 18, 2008
Audio
Listen to Bruce Walter MacDonald, senior director, Congressional Commission on the Strategic Posture of the United States, discuss China's space, counterspace, and satellite programs and their implications for U.S.-China relations.
See more in China, Defense Strategy, National Security and Defense
September 18, 2008
Transcript
A Council Special Report of China, Space Weapons and U.S. Security.
See more in United States, China, Defense/Homeland Security, National Security and Defense
September/October 2008
Article
Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
Charles D. Ferguson and Michelle Smith consider the future of the nuclear energy supply.
See more in Energy Security
September 15, 2008
Op-Ed
Star-Ledger
Michelle Smith and Charles D. Ferguson write on the U.S. role in the conflict between Russia and Georgia.
See more in Europe/Russia, Georgia, NATO
September 8, 2008
Op-Ed
Christian Science Monitor
Charles Ferguson proposes a "potential trust-building deal that would bind the United States and other nuclear energy states to Iran as clients under the condition that Iran accepts more rigorous safeguards on its nuclear program."
See more in United States, Iran, Proliferation
June 27, 2008
Transcript
See more in Northeast Asia, North Korea, Technology and Foreign Policy, Missile Defense, Weapons of Mass Destruction, Weapons of Terrorism
June 16, 2008
Podcast
CFR's Charles Ferguson says U.S. officials should seek access to Pakistan's former nuclear chief to learn about the nuclear black market.
See more in Pakistan, Proliferation, Arms Control and Disarmament, Weapons of Mass Destruction
April 8, 2008
Article
Arms Control Today
Charles D. Ferguson discusses the U.S.-Indian nuclear deal.
See more in United States, India, Proliferation
Spring 2008
Article
Issues in Science and Technology
Charles D. Ferguson discusses certain issues of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and how they can be remedied.
March 11, 2008
Op-Ed
International Herald Tribune
Michelle Smith and Charles D. Ferguson evaluate Sarkozy's nuclear deals in the Middle East.
See more in France, Middle East, Energy, Technology and Foreign Policy, Proliferation
February 21, 2008
Op-Ed
Los Angeles Times
Charles D. Ferguson and Bruce W. MacDonald argue that by demonstrating its anti-satellite capability, the U.S. “was stepping briefly across a dangerous threshold, undercutting American and international criticism of China and threatening an arms race in space.”
See more in United States, China, National Security and Defense, Space
December 19, 2007
Article
Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
See more in Weapons of Mass Destruction, Weapons of Terrorism, Terrorism and Technology
October 16, 2007
Op-Ed
Korea Times
See more in North Korea, Weapons of Mass Destruction, Congress
October 11, 2007
Op-Ed
National Interest
See more in India, Pakistan, Proliferation, Weapons of Mass Destruction
September 19, 2007
Op-Ed
Korea Times
See more in North Korea, South Korea, Proliferation, Public Diplomacy
September 13, 2007
Transcript
Congressman Edward J. Markey discusses nuclear issues between U.S. and India.
See more in United States, India, Proliferation
September 2007
Academic Module
This module features teaching notes by CFR fellow Charles D. Ferguson, the author of Nuclear Energy, along with other resources to supplement the text. In the report, Ferguson examines the benefits and limits of nuclear power, arguing that the United States and international partners must find effective ways to address risks if the use of nuclear energy is to be realistically expanded.
See more in Energy, Proliferation
June 19, 2007
Transcript
See more in Energy, Proliferation
May 18, 2007
Podcast
Charles D. Ferguson, fellow for science and technology at the Council on Foreign Relations, says Iran “is much further along in its nuclear program than many experts were predicting.”
See more in Iran, Proliferation, Arms Control and Disarmament
In The Closing of the American Border, Edward Alden goes behind the scenes to tell the story of the Bush administration’s struggle to balance security and openness in the wake of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
In Termites in the Trading System, Jagdish Bhagwati reveals how the rapid spread of preferential trade agreements endangers the world trading system.
America Between the Wars explores how the decisions and debates of the years between the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Twin Towers shaped the events, arguments, and politics of the world we live in today.
Complete list of CFR Books.
This report lays out a thoughtful agenda for U.S. policy toward the Democratic Republic of Congo, arguing that what happens there should matter to the United States--for humanitarian reasons as well as economic and strategic ones.
In this report, CFR Senior Fellow Michael A. Levi analyzes the potential use of deterrence in preventing terrorist groups from acquiring nuclear weapons and recommends a new approach to U.S. declaratory policy, as well as ways to improve U.S. capabilities to determine the sources of terrorist attacks.
Complete list of Council Special Reports.
For more information on the David Rockefeller Studies Program, contact:
Gary Samore
Vice President, Director of Studies, and Maurice R. Greenberg Chair
+1.212.434.9627
gsamore@cfr.org
Sebastian Mallaby
Director of the Maurice R. Greenberg Center for
Geoeconomic Studies, Deputy Director of Studies, and Paul A. Volcker Senior
Fellow for International Economics
smallaby@cfr.org
Janine Hill
Deputy Director of Studies Administration
+1.212.434.9753
jhill@cfr.org
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