Committee on International Security Studies - History
The Committee on International Security Studies (CISS) was created in 1982 to formalize and expand on the Academy’s work on international security, but the Academy’s work in this area dates back further. In 1960, a group of Academy fellows including Henry Kissinger and Thomas Schelling established an Arms Control Committee at the Academy. This Committee published a special edition of Daedalus on Arms Control which was used by top policymakers at the height of the Cold War, including President John F. Kennedy.
At the time, their goal was to study pathways to de-escalate a possible nuclear confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union. They urged the U.S. administration (and, indirectly, the Soviet leadership) to engage in arms control agreements which they hoped would establish strategic stability between the two superpowers.
In 1963, the Academy also played a critical role in the creation of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs, which aimed to avoid the global deployment of thermonuclear weapons. The Academy and its members remain active in Pugwash’s work.
In 1980s, CISS continued the work of its predecessors by hosting convenings and commissioning publications on topics including the arms control implications of a nuclear weapons freeze, the potential risks of space-based weapons, and the interface between the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and nuclear deterrence. In the 1990s, the Committee’s work broadened in scope to examine how states fail, how ethnic divisions can lead to civil wars, and how environmental scarcity can drive conflicts.
The Committee’s 21st century work has remained rooted in pressing contemporary issues, including the strategic consequences of the invasion of Iraq, the economic benefits and proliferation risks of nuclear energy, and the rising instability among nuclear weapons states. Committee members also lead two track II dialogue series between U.S. and Chinese nuclear security experts, as well as U.S. and European experts. Committee members have also shaped the Academy’s exploratory work on global grand corruption, climate security, the future of the laws of armed conflict, and the implications of war for democracy in the U.S. and worldwide.