The Midcoast Forum on Foreign Relations recently hosted Jon Wolfsthal — who drew from assignments in Russia, North Korea, and travel to Iran — to discuss whether a new era of nuclear danger is upon us.
The Midcoast Forum on Foreign Relations seeks to promote study and discussion of the development, formulation, and implementation of United States foreign policies by means of a program of speakers, the organization of discussion and study groups, and the production and distribution of relevant materials.
From 2014 to 2017, Wolfsthal served as Special Assistant to former U.S. President Barack Obama and as senior director for arms control and nonproliferation at the National Security Council. In that post, he was the most senior White House official, setting and implementing U.S. government policy on all aspects of arms control, nonproliferation, and nuclear policy.
From 2009 to 2012, Wolfsthal served as the special adviser to U.S. Vice President Joe Biden for nuclear security and nonproliferation and as director for nonproliferation on the National Security Council. He supported the Obama administration’s negotiation and ratification of the New START arms reduction agreement with the Russian Federation and helped support the development of nuclear policy, including the 2010 Nuclear Posture Review.
He served in several capacities during the 1990s at the U.S. Department of Energy, including an on-the-ground assignment in North Korea from 1995 to 1996.
Listen to the talk at: Midcoast Forum, Jon Wolfsthal.
Those interested in learning more about the Forum or seeing future speaker events can visit midcoastforum.org. The Maine Monitor will periodically share recordings of the Forum’s talks.
