Nuclear (In)security – A Conversation with Dr. Emma Belcher

This is an in-person event and lunch will be provided. We have limited capacity for this event- make sure you reserve your spot today!

The Doomsday clock is slowly ticking away as the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists recently announced we are at 90 seconds to midnight, the closest we’ve ever come to global catastrophe. Now following Vladimir Putin's recent speech of Russia's suspension of the New START treaty, we've entered a new dangerous era with no formal arms control infrastructure in place--the first time in 60 years. This announcement in tandem with Iran and North Korea's continued escalation of their own nuclear weapons programs keeps the clock ticking towards midnight.

Join the World Affairs Council as we welcome Dr. Emma Belcher, President of the Ploughshares Fund, on March 3rd for a conversation on the persistent risk of a nuclear exchange, the global response, and the future of arms control and nonproliferation.

About the Speaker

Emma Belcher is president of Ploughshares Fund.

Prior to arriving at Ploughshares, Emma spent nearly a decade at the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, where she led the foundation’s Nuclear Challenges grantmaking program. There, she developed and built the foundation’s Nuclear Challenge Big Bet team—from ideation to planning to management of a nearly $20 million budget.

Emma served as a Stanton Nuclear Security Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. She also
served as an advisor in Australia’s Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet on national
security and international affairs and as a public affairs officer at the Australian embassy in
Washington, DC.

She has a background in international security (Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts
University, PhD and MALD; University of Melbourne, BA [Hons]). While completing her PhD,
she was a fellow in the International Security Program and Project on Managing the Atom at
Harvard University’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.

In the Spring of 2019, Emma delivered a TED Talk on the importance of confronting, humanizing and ultimately solving the existential threat of nuclear weapons. Between 2014 and June 2020, Emma served on the advisory committee of N Square—a multi-funder initiative to promote innovation in the nuclear realm. She was a 2014-2016 Emerging Leader at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.

The Boeing Company is an underwriting sponsor of all World Affairs Council Community Programs.