News Stories

The first week in May found experts from the Monterey Institute of International Studies and its James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies in demand from Monterey to Melbourne, as media outlets all over the globe sought comments from MIIS faculty on a wide variety of issues.

The death of Osama bin Laden led several news organizations to seek out MIIS faculty for commentary on what lies ahead in the battle against terrorism in the Middle East and elsewhere. On May 3, the Reuters news agency quoted senior MIIS researcher Gordon Hahn on the effect of bin Laden’s death on terrorism funding in the North Caucasus. The Reuters news story was picked up by numerous International news outlets such as the Moscow Times. On May 4, Professor Sharad Joshi of the Monterey Terrorism Research & Education Program (MonTREP) was interviewed on Monterey-area CBS/Fox affiliate KION’s 5:00 newscast regarding possible retaliation by bin Laden’s terrorist network.

Earlier in the week, the Monterey County Herald interviewed William Potter, director of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) (on May 2), and Robert Gard, president emeritus of the Monterey Institute (on May 3). Both men warned against thinking that bin Laden’s death would in any way signal the end of terrorism.

On May 8, The New York Times quoted Leonard Spector, director of the Washington Office of CNS: “It is hard to abandon Pakistan because of the danger of the nuclear program and the need for help in counterterrorism.”

Dr. Potter was also interviewed at length for Radio Australia on May 4, on the subject of establishing a nuclear weapons-free zone in the South Pacific. President Obama has asked the United States Senate to ratify the Rarotonga Treaty declaring the area free of nuclear weapons and nuclear waste, but its fate remains unclear.

Professor Jan Knippers Black was also interviewed by the Monterey County Weekly for an article previewing a May 6-7 human rights conference at MIIS.

Finally, in a May 2 posting, Microcredit Enterprises founder (and MIIS guest lecturer) Jonathan Lewis wrote in the Huffington Post about his experience speaking at “the prestigious Monterey Institute of International Studies.”

For More Information

Jason Warburg
jwarburg@middlebury.edu
831.647.3156

Eva Gudbergsdottir
eva@middlebury.edu
831.647.6606