Archives – Winter 2006

Committee on International Security and Arms Control

The National Academy of Sciences formed the Committee on International Security and Arms Control (CISAC) in 1980 as a standing committee to bring the resources of the Academy to bear on critical problems of international security and arms control.

CISAC draws from the nation’s finest scientific, technical, engineering, and medical talent to advise the government, contribute to the work of nongovernmental organizations, and inform the public about scientific and technical issues related to nuclear, chemical, and biological security.

CISAC’s “Track II” channels link an independent community of U.S. scientists and experts to a high-level international network of world-renowned scientists, advisers to heads of state, senior parliamentarians, and military officers. It has developed continuing relationships with colleagues in Russia (since 1981), China (since 1988), India (since 1999), and many other countries.

In this photo, CISAC member Richard Garwin examines an SR-71 reconnaissance aircraft parked at Offutt Air Force Base near Omaha, Nebraska, during a U.S.-Russian CISAC visit to the Strategic Air Command in June 1991.