26 MARCH-APRIL 2026 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL nuclear security procedures and practices through IAEA. • IAEA held its first minister-level meeting on nuclear security in 2013, after the first two summits, and since 2016, it convenes once every four years. • IAEA is also the depository for the Convention on Physical Protection. As a result of the visibility provided by the summits, ratifications of a 2005 amendment significantly broadening the application of this treaty quadrupled after 2009, allowing the amendment to enter into force in May 2016. • INTERPOL also has responsibilities and activities on nuclear security, including training in forensics at nuclear crime scenes and posting international notices regarding nuclear smugglers. Their profile in the nuclear security arena was significantly lifted by the summits. At the final summit, in 2016 in Washington, D.C., leaders agreed to a set of action plans that specified how they will work together, as member states of these institutions, to further strengthen their nuclear security efforts. This upgrade of the multilateral institutions was a major legacy of the summit process. By recruiting capable partners to take swift action, the summit process avoided the paralysis that can often afflict international organizations, but by explicitly engaging the international organizations in the solution set, and by executing necessary actions through and with them, the United States strengthened the legitimacy of its actions. The summit process applied the energy of the coalitions to increase voluntary contributions, on top of regular dues and assessments, to support these international organizations in playing their critical roles. Challenges Ahead Ten years after the last Nuclear Security Summit, the nuclear terrorism risk persists and evolves. With the summits and other programs, we have made enormous progress across the nuclear security agenda, but nuclear material holdings are still increasing, terrorism is on the rise, and national leaders have not given these efforts the political attention and resources they deserve. Many of the 935 national commitments and institutional achievements made during the summits were irreversible and continue to contribute to reducing current threats, but global attention to nuclear terrorism has undeniably waned. Hopes that diplomats on the ground in forums like IAEA would reflect the consensus of their leaders have not borne out, and broader geopolitical trends have made multilateral progress even more difficult to achieve. Diplomatic efforts to use the IAEA nuclear security ministerials to continue the summits’ “culture of deliverables” have foundered, and in 2024 delegations were unable to find consensus on a final statement. The North–South divide on nuclear threat perception, which may have closed slightly during the summits, has since widened again. As long as the nonaligned states believe that nuclear security is a favor they do for the West, or that nuclear disarmament will eliminate the nuclear terrorism threat, nuclear security will be stuck in bloc politics. Active voices and organizations in civil society may be important advocates for the global nature of the threat, showing the need for global action. In the context of rising interest in nuclear energy, the next great challenge of nuclear security is to embed it into the thought process and behavior of those national and private entities with nuclear security responsibilities. This includes incentivizing good security practices with benefits that are attractive to designers, builders, and operators of all types of nuclear facilities. As long as nuclear security remains an unpredictable externality to be resisted, it will be fragile. All nuclear actors have a stake in preventing nuclear terrorism. n The author briefs Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz at the National Security Summit in Washington, D.C., in March 2016. Also pictured: Secretary of State John Kerry and National Security Advisor Susan Rice. COURTESY OF LAURA HOLGATE What outcomes would make it worthwhile to convene presidents, prime ministers, and kings?
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy ODIyMDU=