CISSM News

Theresa Hitchens, the former director of the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR), is joining CISSM as a senior research scholar after 5 years at the U.N. body. At CISSM, Hitchens will conduct research and outreach relating to space security, cyber security, and the governance of disruptive technologies.

The future of U.S.-Russian relations after Crimea, the impact of nuclear trafficking on stability, the role of international organizations in maintaining order, and the question of whether or not a world free of nuclear weapons would actually be more peaceful were all on the agenda at a workshop organized by CISSM Senior Fellow Catherine Kelleher in Berlin earlier this month.

A research group that includes CISSM scholar Kevin Jones was awarded a three-year grant by the Department of Defense’s Minerva Initiative to investigate the impact of development aid on conflict. The $2.5 million project, entitled “Aiding Resilience? The Impact of Foreign Assistance on the Dynamics of Intrastate Armed Conflict,” is being led by researchers at the University’s Center for International Development and Conflict (CIDCM).

More than 60 percent of Americans favor making a deal with Iran that would limit Iran’s enrichment capacity and impose additional intrusive inspections in exchange for the lifting of some sanctions. This includes 62 percent of Republicans, 65 percent of Democrats and 51 percent of independents. This was the key finding of a new public opinion study released by the Center for International and Security Studies at Maryland (CISSM) and the Program for Public Consultation (PPC) at an event on Tuesday, July 15.

CISSM Senior Fellow Catherine Kelleher was awarded a $280,000 grant by the Naval Supply Systems Command to complete a study entitled "Missile Defense, Extended Deterrence and Nonproliferation in the 21st Century."

CISSM Director John Steinbruner and Graduate Fellow Ebrahim Mohseni participated in a March 2014 dialogue with Iranian religious leaders in Tehran.

The Deep Cuts Commission, which includes CISSM Senior Fellows Steve Fetter and Catherine Kelleher, released its inaugural report, "Preparing for Deep Cuts: Options for Enhancing Euro-Atlantic and International Security."

Last week, CISSM hosted Russian students from the Institute of U.S. and Canadian Studies (ISKRAN) as part of its Collaborative Education and Cooperative Security Project. Read the complete trip report.

With support from the CISSM Target of Opportunity Fund, Graduate Fellow Nancy Hayden travelled to Burundi and Kenya to conduct field work as part of her research on the resiliency of actors and institutions in the face of civil conflict.

Edinburgh University Press has published CISSM Research Fellow Daniel Levine''s new book The Morality of Peacekeeping, which examines the specific moral challenges confronting peacekeepers and how they can address them.

CISSM welcomes ISKRAN Fellow Korney Kozlov who is spending the fall at the School of Public Policy.

CISSM co-hosted "Attitudes from Tehran: Iranian Public Opinion and the Rowhani Presidency," an event featuring Iranian scholar Ebrahim Mohseni and CISSM Senior Research Scholar Steven Kull. View a video of the event.