On Monday, March 21, Professor Avner Cohen of Middlebury Institute of International Affairs at Monterey (MIIS) will be the guest speaker at the World Affairs Council of the Monterey Bay Area’s monthly luncheon on the topic “Nuclear Weapons Proliferation in the Middle East: How Big a Threat?”

While the immediate focus of international attention has been on stopping Iran from obtaining the ability to build nuclear weapons, many observers believe that an equally worrisome development is that Tehran’s drive to obtain a nuclear bomb may stimulate a regional race for nuclear technology to counter the perceived threat of a nuclear Iran. Proliferation specialists count up to twelve other nations in the Middle East that have recently announced plans to explore atomic energy or have signed nuclear cooperation agreements. Widely known for his path-breaking history of the Israeli nuclear program, Dr. Cohen will review security issues in the Middle East today and their potential for increasing the nuclear threat in the region.

 An internationally recognized expert on nonproliferation issues, particularly in the Middle East, Avner Cohen joined the Center for Nonproliferation Studies, MIIS, after serving as a Public Policy Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington, DC (2009-10). Previously, he was affiliated for ten years with the Center for International and Security Studies at the University of Maryland and was also associated with arms controls projects at the United States Institute of Peace, MIT, Hebrew University, and a number of U.S. universities.

 Dr. Cohen’s most acclaimed book, Israel and the Bomb, was published in 1998 in English and 2000 in Hebrew. His latest work is The Worst Kept Secret: Israel’s Bargain with the Bomb (Columbia University Press, 2010). He holds a B.A. in Philosophy and History from Tel Aviv University, an M.A. in Philosophy from York University, and a Ph.D. from the Committee on History of Culture of the University of Chicago.

 The talk will be from 1300 to 1400 at the Rancho Cañada Golf Club on Carmel Valley Road in Carmel. If you would like just to listen to the lecture (audit), there is no charge, and no reservations are required.  Auditors should be seated by 1240.  Lunch will be served before the talk begins. The entree is corned beef and cabbage, and there is a vegetarian option. If you would like to have lunch at noon, the cost is $25 per person for World Affairs Council members and NPS students (a special rate for students) and $35 for others.  For lunch reservations, please fill out the attached reservation form and send it in by Thursday, March 17.

 The WACMB is also currently offering the Foreign Policy Association’s Great Decisions program at Monterey Peninsula College and California State University, Monterey Bay. This program is free to the public. At MPC the schedule is as follows: March 7, The Koreas; March 14, The United Nations; March 21, Climate Change; and March 28, Cuba and the United States. At CSUMB, the same topics are in the same order on March 7 and 21 and April 4, 18, and 25. The sessions at MPC are 1600 to 1730 in Room 101, Social Sciences Building. The CSUMB meetings are in two sessions each day at 1400 to 1530 and 1600 to 1730 in the OLLI Office at 6^th Avenue and Inter-Garrison Road.

 If you have questions or would like more information, please either send me a note or see the World Affairs Council website: http://www.wacmb.org/WACMB/Upcoming-WACMB-Programs.html.   

 Reservation Form HERE