To compete and thrive in the 21st century, democracies, and the United States in particular, must develop new national security and economic strategies that address the geopolitics of information. In the 20th century, market capitalist democracies geared infrastructure, energy, trade, and even social policy to protect and advance that era’s key source of power—manufacturing. In this century, democracies must better account for information geopolitics across all dimensions of domestic policy and national strategy.
In response to growing concern over weapons of mass destruction (WMD) proliferation, the Bush administration launched the controversial Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) in 2003 with 11 core states — the United States, Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Now, five years later, the PSI boasts participation from over 80 states.
The PSI aims to intercept the flow of WMD, their delivery systems, and related materials to states and non-state actors. However, some critical states remain outside its framework, and it has attracted critics given its informal and loose association — and its creative application of legal principles. This presentation will explore the evolution of the PSI, its structure, reasons for states' participation or nonparticipation, and arguments for and against it becoming more formally tied to other instruments of the nonproliferation regime.
Please join us! Coffee and tea provided. Everyone is welcome, but admittance will be on a first come–first served basis.