The Center's work on homeland defense began in 1999 with the publication of its panel report on Comprehensive Strategic Reform. Since then, the Center has led policy initiatives on combating smuggled nuclear weapons; synergizing the Departments of Defense, State, and Homeland Security; the strategic partnership between the U.S. and Canada; strengthening the transatlantic relationship in the war on terrorism; and crisis leadership. Beginning in 2002, the Center led a unique roundtable series that bridged the Executive Branch, private sector, and think tank community on homeland security challenges.
Throughout 2004-2006 the Center held a series of informal meetings which led to the creation of the Nuclear Defense Working Group (NDWG) in March 2007. This group was chartered to provide independent advice to executive branch agencies and to the Congress on matters related to the threat of clandestine nuclear attack and protecting the nation from it. The NDWG built on previous CSPC efforts on nuclear defense, which ultimately resulted in the creation of the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office within the Department of Homeland Security.
The Center took on the Project on National Security Reform (PNSR) in September 2006, which Congress supports with a $2.4 million appropriation. PNSR is the result of the encouragement of General Peter Pace, Joint Chief of Staff, to James A. Locher III, who helped write the Goldwater-Nichols Act, to team with an independent think tank to evaluate and recommend changes to the National Security Act of 1947. PNSR is now an independent organization.
For more information, please contact Alex Douville, Dean of the Presidential Fellows Program and Director of Education Projects, via This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or at 202-872-9800.
