Professor; Director, East Asia Nonproliferation Project (EANP)
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.
NPTG 8510
Security&ArmsCntrl-N East AsiaCourse 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
NPTG 8518
Open Sources Tools for NPTSCourse 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
NPTG 8563 Current
Evolutn ofChineseNuclearPolicyCourse Description
This course, on the evolution of Chinese nuclear policy, is divided into three parts. The first part outlines early Chinese attitudes to nuclear weapons, proliferation and disarmament, prior to and immediately following China’s nuclear test in 1964. The second part examines enduring concepts in Chinese nuclear policy, such as No First Use, and introduces students to important debates in China since the 1980s on nuclear deterrence. The third part focuses on contemporary issues and challenges that shape Chinese nuclear policy, from ballistic missile defense, to the South Asian nuclear tests in 1999, and the North Korean nuclear crisis. The nature of the US-China nuclear relationship will also be explored. The principal objective of the course is to give students a better understanding of China’s nuclear policy, both past and present. A secondary objective is to introduce to students key literature and sources, both in English and Chinese, on this issue.
Terms Taught
NPTG 8612 Current
Sem:Security&ArmsCntrlNE AsiaCourse Description
This course examines the evolution of the contemporary nuclear security and arms control environment in Northeast Asia through a series of case studies on US national security decisions. Course materials are largely primary source documents and memoirs.
Terms Taught
NPTG 8662
MANPTS Honors ThesisCourse Description
The MANPTS Honors Thesis is a highly selective program through which a limited number of students will design and conduct individual research projects of professional length, scope, and quality under the guidance of a faculty advisor. Applications for the honors thesis will be accepted in the Spring from students in their second or subsequent semesters in the NPTS MA program who are currently maintaining a GPA of 3.7 or higher. Applications will require a personal statement, academic transcript, sample of research writing, proposal for the thesis, and recommendation from a member of the faculty or research staff. In recommending a student for the honors thesis, a faculty or staff member must agree to serve as the student’s thesis advisor if the student is selected for the program. The NPTS Program Chair will appoint a selection committee composed of NPTS faculty and staff from the appropriate MIIS research centers to review applications. Students will be selected for the honors thesis on the basis of GPA, demonstrated proficiency in research and analytical writing, and any other relevant criteria as determined by the selection committee. Throughout the Fall semester, thesis advisors will provide students enrolled in NPTG 8662 with individualized supervision of their thesis projects in a manner similar to a directed study. Thesis advisors will set a schedule for research and writing of the thesis and will meet with students as needed to review progress and provide comments and advice. At the end of the Fall semester, students will present their projects to the Monterey Institute community in a symposium at which invited experts will provide comments and suggestions for further development and publication of research.
Terms Taught
NPTG 8698
Directed StudyCourse Description
Student must obtain a faculty advisor, complete a Directed Study proposal form, obtain signatures, and submit to the Associate Dean of Academic Operations for approval.
Terms Taught
NPTI 8518 Upcoming
Open Sources Tools for NPTSCourse 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
NPTI 8559 Upcoming
Science & Technology for NPTSCourse Description
This course provides students with a solid foundation in scientific and technical fundamentals critical to nonproliferation and terrorism policy analysis. Such policy analyses often require strong foundational knowledge of basic scientific and technical concepts in order to understand, create, and inform policy decisions. The course begins with an introduction to science and the scientific method and then evolves into the three main areas: biological weapons, chemical weapons, nuclear weapons and relevant technologies. Topics covered in the biological component include fundamental concepts related to microorganisms, DNA, RNA, proteins, and processes of infection and disease. Topics covered in the chemistry component include fundamental concepts related to atomic structure and the periodic table, chemical structural representations, functional groups, reactivity, toxicity, as well as modern separation, purification and analytic techniques commonly used for chemical species. Applications of the fundamental concepts in the first two topics are further developed in relation to features of chemical and biological weapons and warfare, including agents, delivery methods and effects. Topics covered in the nuclear component part of the course includes radioactivity, uranium, nuclear weapons, radiation detection instrumentation and applications, environmental plumes, and various instrumentation and analysis techniques. Upon completion of this course students will have a deeper appreciation for the debate on various verification solutions that have been proposed for compliance under the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BWC), Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) and nuclear treaties.
Terms Taught
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.
Dr. Lewis has been teaching at the Institute since 2012.
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.
| by Caitlin Fillmore
Every year, dozens of students at the Middlebury Institute get advanced hands-on training and access to top experts in nonproliferation and arms control in paid research positions.
| by Caitlin Fillmore
Every year, several students at the Middlebury Institute get advanced hands-on training in open-source intelligence skills with mentorship from arms control expert and professor Dr. Jeffrey Lewis.
| by Sierra Abukins
If you need to find some hope in these dark times, tune in to Professor Jeffrey Lewis’s podcast highlighting unsung heroes preventing global catastrophe.
