SUMMARIES

Thompson, Gordon (January 2003). Robust Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel:   A Neglected Issue of Homeland Security.   Cambridge, Massachusetts:   Institute for Resource and Security Studies.   (83 pages,   Executive Summary 7 pages).

This report , commissioned by the Citizens Awareness Network,   sets forth a strategy for robust storage of US spent   nuclear fuel.   The prevailing practice of storing most US spent fuel under water in high-density pools poses a high risk of maliciously-induced release of radioactive material.   Additionally, dry-storage modules of independent spent fuel storage installations at nuclear power plants are not designed to resist determined acts of malice or insanity.   This report presents a detailed strategy to address both wet and dry storage risks.   This strategy should be seen as a major element of our homeland security.   Both the executive summary and the complete report can be downloaded here.

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Gutlove, Paula (26 April 2002). Consultation on Health and Human Security: Summary Report on the Consultation. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Institute for Resource and Security Studies. (21 pages). This report describes a landmark consultation on issues of health and human security, which took place in Cairo, 15-17 April 2002. The consultation was co-sponsored by three UN agencies, WHO, UNFPA, and UNAIDS, and was organized by WHO. The consultation was the third of three meetings on health and human security. The importance of holding the consultation in the Eastern Mediterranean region was underscored by the numerous and serious threats to both health and human security that exist in the region. Health was acknowledged by all participants to be a cornerstone of social, economic, and political well being.

The consultation was organized in four phases. First, it provided a foundation for understanding the concept of human security. Second, it explored the relationship between health and human security. Third, it examined health and human security concerns in the region. Fourth, participants worked together to develop recommendations for action, utilizing a health and human security approach, in the region and elsewhere. These recommendations were discussed and some were endorsed. The report addresses each of these areas. In addition, a consultation programme and a list of consultation participants are provided in the appendices.

Thompson, Gordon and Paula Gutlove (April 2002). Health and Human Security: A Technical Background Document for Discussions on Policies and Programs. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Institute for Resource and Security Studies. (28 pages).In this technical background document, the authors summarize some of the main strands of thinking about human security, and suggest a framework for the practical application of the concept in the context of health care. The concept of human security is being widely discussed in international humanitarian and diplomatic circles, and health is recognized as an important domain of human security. A human security perspective can add value to pre-existing health strategies and programs, by mobilizing new resources and partnerships and by linking health programs with programs that address related objectives. Application of the human security perspective to health programs and related programs could occur at a global, regional or national scale. At each of these scales, a conceptual framework is needed to guide the planning and implementation of health and human security initiatives. An appropriate framework for regional initiatives could have four distinct but mutually supporting program elements: (1) policy and strategy, (2) country-level program opportunities, (3) research, training and technical collaboration, and (4) outreach and promotion.

Preparation of this document was partly supported by the World Health Organization (WHO), in connection with a WHO Consultation on Health and Human Security held in Cairo in April 2002.

Gutlove, Paula (19 May 2001). Meeting Report: Health and Human Security, Geneva, Switzerland, 10 May 2001. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Institute for Resource and Security Studies. (15 pages). This report describes a May 2001 meeting hosted by the Geneva Foundation and facilitated by IRSS. The meeting was the second of three meetings on health and human security. Human security centers on the security of individuals or small groups rather than states or nations. This concept is receiving increasing notice. Many international agencies have addressed aspects of human security in their work on public health, humanitarian assistance, development, and other goals. Through expanding the role of public health to include human security, public health can provide an important platform from which to bring human security issues into the forefront of policy debates. An expanded role for public health should also include integrating public health and conflict management.

In considering human security and options for future action, the participants agreed to focus on the health aspects of human security. The group agreed that a conceptual framework for health and human security needs to be developed as part of any future work, and recommended the establishment of a WHO Task Force on Health and Human Security. The Task Force could define a common vision, a strategic approach, a policy agenda, and a framework for action that could be presented to the 56th World Health Assembly in May 2003, and to the UN General Assembly in September 2003. The group identified areas for the work of the proposed Task Force.

Gutlove, Paula and Claude Romer (May 2000). Meeting Report: Public Health, Violence and Human Security, Washington, DC, 13 March 2000. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization, Violence and Injury Prevention and Cambridge, Massachusetts: Institute for Resource and Security Studies. (24 pages).This report describes an inter-sectoral, round-table meeting on public health, violence and human security, convened by WHO and IRSS on 13 March 2000 at the offices of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). The meeting was the first of three meetings on health and human security.

WHO has increasingly recognized the significant impact of violence on public health, and has developed science-based public health strategies and programs accordingly. Moreover, WHO has sought to examine the implications of violence in the broader context of human security. The organization's goal is to develop, articulate and promote a conceptual framework for the improvement of public health through the prevention of violence and the enhancement of human security. As an initial step, WHO and IRSS convened this meeting. The discussion provided an opportunity for an exchange of views, from diverse perspectives, on the issues of public health, violence prevention and human security. This report provides a summary of the main themes of the discussion, together with recommendations regarding future actions.

Thompson, Gordon and Paula Gutlove (May 1994). Preventive Diplomacy and National Security: Incorporating Conflict Prevention and Conflict Resolution as Elements of U.S. National Security Policy: A Report Informed by a Workshop Held in the Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC, 18 March 1994. Washington, DC: Winston Foundation for World Peace and Cambridge, Massachusetts: Institute for Resource and Security Studies. (13 pages, 1 Appendix).

This report, informed by a workshop held in Washington in March 1994, briefly outlines a case for the fuller incorporation of preventive diplomacy into US national security planning and budgeting.   In so doing, it explores some opportunities for pursuing this objective, and proposes some near-term actions to promote the common security of individuals, ethnic groups and nations around the globe.   Preventive diplomacy is a relatively new and fluid concept that encompasses a variety of measures.   In this report, the focus is on measures for conflict prevention and conflict resolution. The report suggests a working definition of preventive diplomacy, discussing its present role and ways to promote it in the future. Thus the report seeks to address the question: How can the evolving discipline of preventive diplomacy be more fully incorporated into national security planning and budgeting?

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Thompson, Gordon (7 March 1993). A Critique of ANSTO's Submission to the Research Reactor Review.   Cambridge, Massachusetts:   Institute for Resource and Security Studies.   (6 pages).

This critique, prepared at the request of Sutherland Shire Council, addresses the documentation submitted by the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization (ANSTO) to a government-sponsored review committee.   The documents provide ANSTO's case for constructing a new research reactor.   This critique does not take any position on the merit of constructing a new research reactor.   Instead, it examines the case that ANSTO has made. Factors that are considered are the status of nuclear power technology, alternatives to the proposed reactor, the potential role of a research reactor in producing materials for nuclear weapons, and the role of prestige.   It finds ANSTO's case to be poorly structured and incomplete, recommending the review committee decline to accept ANSTO's submission and request a new version.

Thompson, Gordon (September 1992). Strengthening the International Atomic Energy Agency.   Cambridge, Massachusetts:   Institute for Resource and Security Studies.   (21 pages).

This paper is the product of an IRSS study on reform of the The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), as part of a broader IRSS program of work on nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament. The IAEA, now thirty-five years old, faces important tasks.   It is needed as the implementing body for international controls to reduce the threat of nuclear proliferation, terrorism, accident, or pollution.   These threats are significant and growing, in the former Soviet Union and elsewhere.   However, the IAEA is not well prepared for its control mission, in large part because it has sought to simultaneously promote and control nuclear technology.   Reform and strengthening of the Agency are required.  

This paper sketches some potential elements of a reform program and discusses means for debating and implementing reforms.   It concludes that reform will require shedding of the promotional function, amendments to the IAEA Statute, and action by the IAEA General Conference.   Such reforms would lay the basis for an increase in the powers, resources, and responsibilities of the Agency. 

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Thompson, Gordon (January 1991). PEACE BY PIECE:   New Options for International Arms Control and Disarmament. Cambridge, Massachusetts:   Institute for Resource and Security Studies.   (25 pages).

This paper was the first in a series of working papers , published by the Institute for Resource and Security Studies (IRSS) in an effort to provide readers with access to current research on resource and international security issues.   The writing and publishing of this paper were performed within the Proliferation Reform Project (PRP), a research and education effort of IRSS. This paper explores options for strengthening and adapting the existing arms control and disarmament framework through many small steps--a "piecemeal" approach to peacebuilding.   The ultimate objective is to create a comprehensive, universal, international arms control structure.   Much of the discussion centers on the control of nuclear weapons. From the end of World War II until the early 1960s, it was generally assumed that arms control and disarmament should be pursued through international measures.   A period then began in which arms control was largely the preserve of the superpowers.  

This paper argues that a resurgence of international arms control is feasible, timely, and necessary.   Present arrangements are inadequate to address current and potential challenges.   If progress in international arms control is to be made, two major problems must be faced: the difficulty of finding agreement on comprehensive, international measures; and the need for consensus.   A piecemeal approach, a comprehensive plan of arms control and disarmament disaggregated into discrete, self-contained "modules", would overcome these problems.

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Thompson, Gordon, Paul F. Walker and Pam Solo, Study Directors (December 1988). New Directions For NATO: Adapting the Atlantic Alliance to the Needs of the 1990's. Cambridge, Massachusetts:   Institute for Resource and Security Studies   and Institute for Peace and International   Security.   (62 pages).

This report summarizes a study conducted during the summer and fall of 1988, motivated by a conviction that the United State and its NATO allies lack both a coherent assessment of the security challenges of the 1990s and a vision of the actions required to meet these challenges.   The NATO-Warsaw Pact confrontation represents a major diversion of the world's resources away from peaceful and productive enterprises.   At its heart is the prolonged standoff in Central Europe, the most heavily militarized region on Earth.   NATO nations have a duty to pursue every opportunity to reduce the scale of the confrontation, both in Central Europe and elsewhere.   In the preamble to the North Atlantic treaty, these nations resolve "to unite their efforts for collective defense and for the preservation of peace and security."   As NATO nears its fortieth anniversary, the expression of that resolve will require a new vision, appropriate to the needs of the 1990s and beyond.   This report, drawing upon interviews with a variety of experts in the fields of foreign policy and defense, offers such a vision.

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