Essay Contest

PONI is pleased to announce its establishment of an essay contest to further stimulate and reward new thinking on how to address both current and future challenges in the areas of nuclear weapons strategy and policy.

About the Contest

The Project on Nuclear Issues (PONI) at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is pleased to announce the results of its first annual essay contest. The contest was established to further stimulate and reward new thinking on how to address both current and future challenges in the areas of nuclear weapons strategy and policy.

Submissions were a product of original research, unpublished elsewhere and focused on topics within the scope of the PONI research agenda, which, broadly speaking, covers the following issue areas.

Nuclear Strategy, Policy, and Posture
Nuclear Nonproliferation
Scientific and Operational Methods to Improve Security
Nuclear Disarmament and Material Security

The author of the winning essay was awarded a $5,000 cash prize and their paper will be reviewed for publication in CSIS’s journal, The Washington Quarterly, in the spring of 2011. A Runner-up received a prize of $2,500. The “Best Undergraduate Essay” won a cash prize of $3,000 and an undergraduate runner-up received a prize of $1,500.

2010 Essay Contest Results

Winner

Mark Bell, "How to Secure Nuclear Materials Worldwide Within Four Years"

Runner-Up

Michael Hertzberg, "Shining a Brighter Light on Dark Places: Improving the IAEA’s Use of Intelligence through Cooperation with NATO"

Finalists

Anne Harrington de Santana, “The Strategy of Nonproliferation: Maintaining the Credibility of an Incredible Threat to Disarm”

Kristin Paulson, "Finding a Substitute for Nuclear Weapons: An Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Security Guarantees in Preventing Nuclear Proliferation"

Undergraduate Winner

Reid Pauly, Cornell University, "Containing the Atom: Paul Nitze and the Tradition of Non-Use of Nuclear Weapons"

Undergraduate Runner-Up

William Leonard, Columbia University, “Closing the Gap" The Euromissiles and President Carter’s Nuclear Weapons Strategy for Western Europe (1977-1979)"

Undergraduate Finalists

Harrison Monsky, Yale University, "Nuclear Power Reconsidered: Carter’s Nonproliferation Strategy, 1977-81"

Amanda Tuninetti, Princeton University, "A New Deterrent for a New World: The Case for Removing Non-Strategic Nuclear Weapons from Europe"