January 6th, 2011

Moving critical policy forward

The end of 2010 was a particularly busy time in Washington D.C., and CISAC scholars played a key role helping move critical policy forward. Michael McFaul, President Obama's senior advisor on Russia, was heavily involved with negotiating the New START treaty, which was ratified in December. William Perry, the former secretary of defense, was also a key advisor to the president on the issue. Obama also signed a bill in December repealing the Don't Ask Don't Tell law that has, since 1993, prohibited the U.S. military from undertaking efforts to determine the sexual preferences of service members. Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar, helped lead the White House effort to implement the president's goal of repealing the policy in his role as Special Assistant to President Obama for Justice and Regulatory Policy. Cuéllar also coordinated the president's Food Safety Working Group and negotiated provisions of the Food Safety Modernization Act, which Obama signed in January. The law requires, for the first time, the creation of a National Agriculture and Food Defense Strategy to harness American scientific and technical expertise in protecting the American food supply. The new law's inspection and documentation requirements will also help facilitate monitoring to identify security-related vulnerabilities.

• » Whitehouse.gov blog: "President signs repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell"
• » Whitehouse.gov blog: "Food Safety Modernization Act"
• » Whitehouse.gov blog: "New START Treaty and Protocol"

December 24th, 2010

New START Treaty wins Senate approval

President Obama and members of his national security team — including Stanford's Michael McFaul, senior advisor on Russia and former Deputy Director of FSI and Director of FSI's Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law — gather in the Oval Office to celebrate Senate approval of the new START Treaty. Signed in April by President Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, the treaty was ultimately approved 71/26 in the Senate. The treaty will reduce deployed warheads and missile launchers, and restore mutual verification procedures, and is regarded as one more step toward the eventual elimination of nuclear weapons.

September 24th, 2010

Honors students explore challenges of policy implementation, assessment in Washington, D.C.

In September, honors students from FSI's two undergraduate honors programs - the Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law (CDDRL) and the Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC) - traveled to Washington, D.C., with their faculty advisors for senior-level policy briefings with U.S. government officials and major international organizations, NGOs, and think tanks. A highlight was a meeting at the National Security Council with two leading Stanford foreign policy experts serving in the current administration: Michael McFaul, President Obama's senior advisor on Russia; and Jeremy Weinstein, Director for Democracy on the National Security Council Staff. Read more »

June 24th, 2010

President Dmitry Medvedev: Russia is open for partnership

"Russia is open for partnership, for investment, and foreign trade" with American universities and companies, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev told a Stanford audience. Saying, "I wanted to see with my own eyes the origins of success," Medvedev spent a day in Silicon Valley and on campus meeting with leaders. To modernize the Russian economy and reduce its reliance on natural resources, his government is creating a high-tech, innovation center in Skolkovo and has announced new tax and other incentives to attract foreign investment and innovators. Read more »

June 23rd, 2010

William Perry, George Shultz welcome Dmitry Medvedev to Bay Area; Russian President speaks at Stanford

On the eve of President Medvedev's speech at Stanford, Perry said Russia must open up its society and offer a business environment with a well-established rule of law to attract high-tech investors. Shultz gave Medvedev a copy of "Nuclear Tipping Point," a documentary advocating a world free of nuclear weapons. Read more »

June 22nd, 2010

CISAC's David Holloway on Medvedev's visit to Silicon Valley

Holloway, an expert on the former Soviet Union, says President Medvedev faces serious obstacles in creating conditions conducive for a Russian "Silicon Valley," but he might be the right person for the job. Read more »

June 17th, 2010

Interactive website tracing 'terrorist family trees' to be launched

By the end of the year, scholars of security studies will be able to use a new website to learn how terrorist and militant organizations evolve over time and how they collaborate with—and compete against—one another. Read more »