Trainspotting But With Nukes: How New Tools and Technologies are Changing How We Track the Spread of Nuclear Weapons

Jeffrey Lewis, Professor and Director, East Asia Nonproliferation Project. The information revolution has given civil society new tools and technologies that were once the private preserve of intelligence agencies.  These range from commercial satellites to superfast computers.  The easy access to new data and tools has created a new community of “open source” analysts ranging from academics to amateurs studying everything from human rights abuses to the spread of nuclear weapons.  At the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, we use these tools to track the spread of nuclear weapons.  Our work was recently featured in the August 7th cover story of The Economist, titled “The Promise of Open Source Intelligence.”  This talk explains, in jargon-free language, how anyone can become an open source sleuth.

Sponsored by International Global Studies Program and the Political Science Department