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Gary Samore

Special Assistant to the President and White House Coordinator for Arms Control and Weapons of Mass Destruction, Proliferation, and Terrorism (since January 2009)

(Council on Foreign
Relations)

Why He Matters

In the days after the 2008 presidential election, Samore said Iran and North Korea's nuclear ambitions were some of the biggest challenges facing President Obama. Just a few weeks later, he was tapped to join a team of White House officials, national security experts and State Department leaders entrusted with developing U.S. nuclear non-proliferation strategy, a top priority for the administration.

As White House coordinator for arms control and weapons of mass destruction, proliferation, and terrorism, Samore led an effort to pass a treaty (signed by 47 world leaders) that put into place a voluntary but far-reaching program to prevent terrorists from accessing thousands of tons of weapons-grade nuclear materials. Samore also helped Obama craft a new START treaty, which binds the U.S. and Russia to cut their long-range missile arsenal by about a third.

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Background

At a Glance

Career History: Director, Council on Foreign Relations (2006 to 2009); Vice President for Global Security and Sustainability, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation (2005); Researcher, International Institute of Strategic Studies (2001 to 2005)
Alma Mater: State University of New York at Stony Brook, B.A. (sociology); Harvard University, PhD, 1984

Web site

Path to Power

Samore earned his B.A. in sociology from the State University of New York at Stony Brook and his PhD in government from Harvard University in 1984.

After brief stints with the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the RAND Corporation, Samore joined the State Department during the Reagan administration in 1987. He held several positions there, including director of the Office of Regional Non-proliferation Affairs; special assistant to the Ambassador-at-Large for Non-proliferation and Nuclear Energy Policy; and deputy to Ambassador-at-Large for Korean Affairs Robert Gallucci.

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The Issues

In his White House gig, Samore oversees efforts to reduce existing nuclear arsenals, stop proliferation to additional countries and prevent terrorists and other non-state actors from acquiring nuclear weapons.

He's had some victories. In April 2010, Samore helped reshape U.S. nuclear weapons strategy. The new policy, outlined in the Nuclear Policy Review,narrowed American use of nuclear weapons to primarily a deterrent function. It also renounced the weapons use on non-nuclear states in compliance with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, even if those countries attack the U.S.

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The announcement came just weeks after another breakthrough by the Obama administration in which the U.S. and Russia agreed to cut their their long-range arsenals by about a third. The countries currently hold more than 90 percent of the world's nuclear weapons.

Samore was also the lead voice in a successful effort to pass a treaty (signed by 47 world leaders) that put into place a voluntary but far-reaching program to prevent terrorists from accessing thousands of tons of weapons-grade nuclear materials.

North Korea

Though Samore helped negotiate the original U.S. non-proliferation agreement with North Korea, he has grown increasingly skeptical that the country will abandon its nuclear weapons program.

Samore supports the George W. Bush administration's approach of providing North Korea with political and economic rewards in exchange for their cooperation on particular issues, which he calls an "incremental quid-pro-quo strategy." He said Koreans must agree to stop their secret uranium enrichment program, cease helping countries like Syria develop nuclear technologies, dismantle all facilities, and surrender any weapons the country currently possesses. "We shouldn't kid ourselves," Samore said in an interview with Fox News. "This is only the very beginning of the toughest part of the negotiations."

Samore also believes the U.S. must work with other countries, and that the country should continue the six-party talks started in August 2003. "The most effective way for us to deal with North Korea is through international unity and cooperation," he said at an April 2009 press conference.

Iran

Samore cautions that Iran must be treated delicately - unlike North Korea, it will not be enticed to give up its nuclear weapons with carrots alone. "A sweeter offer that isn't accompanied by a bigger threat will be seen in Iran as vindication of its current confrontational policies," Samore said at a 2007 talk. Some possible "sticks" include an arms embargo and a ban on investments in Iran's oil and gas industries, Samore wrote.

Though Samore thinks U.S. military action in Iran is far from likely, he is afraid that Iran might overplay its hand, forcing Israel (and therefore America) to intervene. "What I worry about more than anything else is that Iran's over-confidence will lead them to eventually provoke a military response from Israel or the U.S.," he wrote in 2007.

India

Some Indian officials opposed Samore's appointment because he is a "non-proliferation hawk" who they believe will push India to sign the 1996 Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). Indian officials argue that because their nuclear program is very new, they have had fewer opportunities to test their weapons than the U.S. or Russia.

But Samore said that argument would not be accepted by the Obama administration. "I don't think it is a question of American pressure on India, as it will be international pressure on India, because people would say that if all the other big countries have joined the CTBT, why not India?" Samore told an Indian newspaper in 2009.

The Network

As a leader in nuclear non-proliferation, Samore joins what has been described as a "powerful bench" of nuclear specialists in the Obama administration. Leaders include Ellen Tauscher, undersecretary-designate for arms control and international security affairs at the State Department, Bob Einhorn, a special adviser to Obama on nuclear non-proliferation issues and Rose Gottemoeller, assistant secretary for compliance and implementation at the State Department.

(photo: Pete Souza / White House)

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