Vann H. Van Diepen | |
---|---|
United States Assistant Secretary of State for International Security and Nonproliferation (acting) | |
In office June 15, 2009 –September 26, 2011 | |
Preceded by | C.S. Eliot Kang |
Succeeded by | Thomas M. Countryman |
Vann Van Diepen is a former United States civil servant who worked in a variety of positions in the United States Department of State.
Van Diepen received a B.A. degree in international studies from American University and a S.M. degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. [1] He began his career in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research as a Soviet military analyst,and later held positions managing chemical and biological weapons nonproliferation initiatives,and ballistic missile threat reduction programs,for the U.S. State Department. [1] In 2006 he moved to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence,returning to the State Department in 2009 as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Security and Nonproliferation. [1]
Van Diepen was a major contributor to a 2007 National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on the nuclear weapons program of Iran,which some said underestimated Iranian nuclear capabilities and which was criticized by neoconservatives as being politicized and reflective of former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell's preference for negotiation over confrontation with Iran over nuclear issues. [2] [3] The charges of politicization against Van Diepen and the other report authors were rejected by Vice President of the United States Dick Cheney and by Flynt Leverett. [3]
Until late 2011,Van Diepen spent two years as acting Assistant Secretary of State for International Security and Non-Proliferation,but was never nominated to the post on a permanent basis due to doubts by the Obama presidency as to whether the United States Senate would confirm his appointment owing to continuing concerns by some Republican senators over the 2007 NIE. [4] While acting as Assistant Secretary of State he confronted Ukrainian officials over allegations they had been supplying South Sudan with T-72 main battle tanks which,according to diplomatic cables,led to a "commotion on the Ukrainian side". [5]
In 2016 Van Diepen was decorated with the Presidential Rank Award of Distinguished Senior Professional. [6] He retired from the State Department in December 2016. [7] [8]
The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons,commonly known as the Non-Proliferation Treaty or NPT,is an international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology,to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy,and to further the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament. Between 1965 and 1968,the treaty was negotiated by the Eighteen Nation Committee on Disarmament,a United Nations-sponsored organization based in Geneva,Switzerland.
Robert L. Gallucci is an American academic and diplomat,who formerly worked as president of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. He previously served as dean of the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University,from 1996 to June 2009. Prior to his appointment in 1996,for over two decades he had served in various governmental and international agencies,including the Department of State and the United Nations.
Iran is not known to currently possess weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and has signed treaties repudiating the possession of WMD including the Biological Weapons Convention,the Chemical Weapons Convention,and the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Iran has first-hand knowledge of WMD effects—over 100,000 Iranian troops and civilians were victims of chemical weapons during the 1980s Iran–Iraq War.
Robert G. Joseph is a senior scholar at the National Institute for Public Policy. He was the United States Special Envoy for Nuclear Nonproliferation,with ambassadorial rank. Prior to this post,Joseph was the Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security,a position he held until January 24,2007. Joseph is known for being instrumental in creating the Proliferation Security Initiative and as the architect of the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism. He was also the US chief negotiator to Libya in 2003 who convinced the Libyans to give up their WMD programs. He also recently authored a book describing his experience in negotiating with Libya entitled "Countering WMD."
Charles Thomas Fingar,is a professor at Stanford University. In 1986 Fingar left Stanford to join the State Department. In 2005,he moved to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence as the deputy director of National Intelligence for Analysis and concurrently served as the chairman of the National Intelligence Council until December 2008. In January 2009,he rejoined Stanford as a Payne Distinguished Lecturer in the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies.
The U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (ACDA) was an independent agency of the United States government that existed from 1961 to 1999. Its mission was to strengthen United States national security by "formulating,advocating,negotiating,implementing and verifying effective arms control,nonproliferation,and disarmament policies,strategies,and agreements."
The Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security (T) is a position within the U.S. Department of State that serves as Senior Adviser to the President and the Secretary of State for Arms Control,Nonproliferation,and Disarmament.
The Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation (ISN) is a bureau within the United States Department of State responsible for managing a broad range of nonproliferation and counterproliferation functions. The bureau leads U.S. efforts to prevent the spread of weapons of mass destruction,their delivery systems,advanced conventional weapons,and related materials,technologies,and expertise.
Henry D. Sokolski is the founder and executive director of the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center,a Washington,D.C.–based think tank promoting a better understanding of strategic weapons proliferation issues among policymakers,scholars,and the media. He teaches as an adjunct professor at The Institute of World Politics in Washington,D.C.,and at the University of Utah and has an appointment as senior fellow for nuclear security studies at the University of California at San Diego's School of Global Policy and Strategy.
The National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB) is a panel of experts that reports to the Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services. It is tasked with recommending policies on such questions as how to prevent published research in biotechnology from aiding terrorism,without slowing scientific progress.
Rose Eilene Gottemoeller is an American diplomat who served as Deputy Secretary General of NATO from October 2016 to October 2019 under Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. Before then she was the Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security at the U.S. State Department.
The 2010 Review Conference for the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) was held at United Nations Headquarters in New York City from 3 to 28 May 2010. The President of the Review Conference is Ambassador Libran N. Cabactulan of the Philippines. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon used the opening of the conference to note that "sixty five years later,the world still lives under the nuclear shadow".
Paula Adamo DeSutter was United States Assistant Secretary of State for Verification,Compliance,and Implementation from 2002 to 2009.
Christopher Ashley Ford is an American lawyer and government official who served from January 2018 until January 2021 as Assistant Secretary of State for International Security and Non-Proliferation. He was nominated to that position by President Donald Trump,and confirmed unanimously by the U.S. Senate on December 21,2017. After October 21,2019,Ford also,by delegation from Secretary of State Michael Pompeo,performed the duties of the Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security until his resignation from the Department of State on January 8,2021.
Brooke D. Anderson is an American diplomat who served as a U.S. ambassador at the United Nations,as Chief of Staff and Counselor for the White House National Security Council,and as Senior Advisor to the Secretary of State and the Under Secretary for Political Affairs on the Iran Nuclear Negotiations. She has served as a trusted advisor to U.S. presidents,Cabinet Secretaries,members of Congress,presidential candidates,philanthropists and business leaders.
Views on the nuclear program of Iran vary greatly,as the nuclear program of Iran is a very contentious geopolitical issue. Uriel Abulof identifies five possible rationales behind Iran’s nuclear policy:(i) Economy,mainly energy needs;(ii) Identity politics,pride and prestige;(iii) Deterrence of foreign intervention;(iv) Compellence to boost regional influence;and (v) Domestic politics,mitigating,through 'nuclear diversion' the regime’s domestic crisis of legitimacy. Below are considerations of the Iranian nuclear program from various perspectives.
The Bureau of Arms Control,Deterrence,and Stability,formerly the Bureau of Arms Control,Verification and Compliance (AVC) is a bureau within the United States Department of State. It is responsible for providing oversight of policy and resources of all matters relating to the verification of compliance or discovery of noncompliance with international arms control,nonproliferation,and disarmament agreements.
Anita E. Friedt is an American diplomat and former U.S. Department of State senior official. She has served in various capacities related to international security,arms control,and nonproliferation. Friedt is known for strengthening transatlantic relations and advancing U.S. foreign policy objectives in Europe and beyond.
C.S. Eliot Kang is an American diplomat and member of the Senior Executive Service. He currently serves as the Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation (ISN) at the U.S. Department of State. From January to July 2021 and January 2017 to January 2018,Kang served as acting ISN Assistant Secretary and also exercised the authority of the Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs. He also served as acting ISN Assistant Secretary from January to June 2009.
Kathleen Cordelia Bailey is an American political scientist and artist. She served as deputy assistant secretary of the Bureau of Intelligence and Research and as assistant director of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency. She is a senior associate at the National Institute for Public Policy in Washington,D.C.