Watching for a North Korean Nuclear Weapons Test
On NPR’s Morning Edition, Professor Jeffrey Lewis discussed his work monitoring for the first North Korean nuclear weapons test in five years.
Jeffrey Lewis
Professor; Director, East Asia Nonproliferation Project (EANP)
- Office
- 499 Van Buren Street, Rm. 229
- Tel
- (831) 647-6616
- jlewis@middlebury.edu
Dr. Jeffrey Lewis is the director of the East Asia Nonproliferation Program at CNS. Before coming to CNS, he was the director of the Nuclear Strategy and Nonproliferation Initiative at the New America Foundation. Prior to that, he was executive director of the Managing the Atom Project at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, executive director of the Association of Professional Schools of International Affairs, a visiting fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and a desk officer in the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy.
At the Middlebury Institute, he teaches courses on arms control issues in Northeast Asia and Chinese nuclear policy. The work of his team was recently covered in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and VICE. He is the author of Minimum Means of Reprisal: China’s Search for Security in the Nuclear Age (MIT Press, 2007), and Paper Tigers: China’s Nuclear Posture (IISS, 2014). He is a regular columnist for Foreign Policy, and has published articles in Foreign Affairs, the Washington Post, and The New York Times. He is the founder of ArmsControlWonk.com, the leading blog and podcast on disarmament, arms control and nonproliferation.
Courses Taught
INTD 1219
Upcoming
Nonproliferation Tools & Tech
Course Description
Applying New Tools and Technologies to Today's Security challenges on the Korean Peninsula
In 2017, North Korea tested a missile capable of delivering a powerful thermonuclear weapon against cities throughout the United States. How do scholars study international security challenges like the spread of nuclear weapons? In this course, students will develop an open source intelligence toolkit applicable to a broad universe of international security challenges, with special focus on nuclear weapons and North Korea. No prior knowledge is assumed, and students outside political science are encouraged to participate. The tools covered, such as satellite imagery, have broad applicability beyond nonproliferation, to areas such as human trafficking, climate change, oceans policy, and counterterrorism.
Terms Taught
Winter 2019, Winter 2022, Winter 2023
Requirements
WTR
NPTG 8518
Upcoming
Open Sources Tools for NPTS
Course Description
This course is an introduction to open source analysis used in the context of nonproliferation and terrorism studies. The instructors will give policy lectures as well as hands-on training in the lab. The course is designed as an overview of geospatial and data analysis techniques which are only just recently being applied to the nonproliferation and terrorism research fields. Students will study policy and intelligence analysis using deep web searching, ground and satellite imagery analysis, basic GIS, 3D modeling, crowd-sourcing, text mining, and network analysis.
Terms Taught
Spring 2021 - MIIS, Fall 2021 - MIIS, Spring 2022 - MIIS, Fall 2022 - MIIS
NPTG 8510
Security&ArmsCntrl-N East Asia
Course Description
This course will examine contemporary issues relating to nuclear arms control, disarmament, and nonproliferation in Northeast Asia. Topics to be examined include China's strategic modernization, North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs, and US extended deterrence commitments to Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.
Terms Taught
Spring 2021 - MIIS, Spring 2022 - MIIS
Areas of Interest
Dr. Jeffrey Lewis is interested in nonproliferation and arms control issues in Asia, the role of intelligence, and applying new tools to open source intelligence.
Programs
Research Centers
Academic Degrees
- PhD in Policy Studies (International Security and Economic Policy), University of Maryland
- BA in Philosophy and Political Science, Augustana College
Dr. Lewis has been teaching at the Institute since 2012.
Publications
Dr. Lewis is the author of Minimum Means of Reprisal: China’s Search for Security in the Nuclear Age (MIT Press, 2007) and publishes ArmsControlWonk.com, the leading blog on disarmament, arms control and nonproliferation.
News Feed
Field Work: What TikTok Can Teach Us about War
| by Stephen Diehl
Middlebury Institute student researcher Tricia White has found TikTok a valuable tool for gathering open-source intelligence on the Russia-Ukraine war.
How America Watches for a Nuclear Strike
The New York Times reports that Nonproliferation and Terrorism Studies professor Dr. Jeffrey Lewis and research associate Michael Duitsman monitored Russian sites for clues about its nuclear war preparations.