Arms Control Association

• 1. Introduction

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  The Arms Control Association states its purpose in one line: "promoting public understanding of and support for effective arms control policies." It is a nonpartisan membership organization, founded in 1971 and based in Washington, D.C. Its work is aimed at people who follow decisions about weapons. That raises a few questions. What does the Association actually put in front of its readers? Who pays for it? And who sits at the desks that produce it?

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• 2. Arms Control Today

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  Every month, the Association publishes a magazine called Arms Control Today. Part of each issue is made up of topical news updates. The rest is extended articles that carry footnotes, so readers can trace where claims come from.

  The magazine is one piece of a wider effort. Through its online pages, print materials, and events, the Association offers information, analysis, and commentary. Its audience is policymakers, the media, and the interested public.

  The subject matter is arms control proposals, negotiations, and agreements, along with related national security issues. Producing all of that depends on outside money, and the Association is supported by grants.

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• 3. Foundation Backing

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  The Ploughshares Fund heads the list of grant-makers that the Association names as its supporters. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the Carnegie Corporation of New York appear alongside it. So do the Colombe Foundation, the New Land Foundation, and the Prospect Hill Foundation. The list closes with the Stewart R. Mott Foundation and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.

  That makes eight named foundations in all. The Association describes its funding as grants rather than as a single large patron. Those grants pay for a staff that, as of 2018, was led by one executive director.

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• 4. The 2018 Roster

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  As of 2018, Daryl G. Kimball served as executive director. Kelsey Davenport directed nonproliferation policy, and Kingston Reif directed disarmament and threat reduction policy. Tony Fleming was director for communications and operations.

  The magazine had its own team. Terry Atlas was editor of Arms Control Today, and Allen Harris was its production editor and graphic designer. Shervin Taheran worked as program associate, Alicia Sanders-Zakre as research assistant, and Merle Newkirk as finance officer.

  Two fellows rounded out the group. Jeff Abramson was a nonresident senior fellow, and Terri Lodge was a senior congressional fellow. Three or four interns joined during each of the spring, summer, and fall academic semesters. A Scoville Fellow arrives only when the Association is selected as the host organization.

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