Rose Gottemoeller

Assistant Secretary of State for Verification and Compliance (since April 2009)

(AFP/Getty Images)

Why She Matters

On a visit to a Russian nuclear site in the late 1990s, Gottemoeller was handed a pail of plutonium. "Basically, they have buckets on the floor anyone could walk in and pick them up and carry them out," she told the New York Times in May 2001. It is her choice anecdote for skeptics who don't think Russian facilities still pose a threat. "We must stem the nuclear flow at its source," she wrote in the L.A. Times in November 2001.

Gottemoeller has spent her career addressing nuclear non-proliferation as a member of the Energy Department, the Carnegie Endowment and now as assistant secretary of state for Verification and Compliance. Though she is a lifelong Democrat, the Russia expert is respected by Republicans and officials in Moscow as an intelligent negotiator with a deep knowledge of the issues.

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Background

At a Glance

Career History: Director, Carnegie Endowment's Moscow Center (2006 to 2008); Senior Associate, Carnegie Endowment (2001 to 2006); Assistant Secretary for Non-Proliferation and National Security, Energy Department (1997 to 2001)
Hometown: Columbus, Ohio
Alma Mater: Georgetown, B.S. (Russian); George Washington University, M.A.

Spouse: Raymond Arnaudo
Web site

Path to Power

Gottemoeller was born in Columbus, Ohio, the fifth of six children. Her father was an insurance executive and her mother stayed home to tend to her "big German Catholic family," she said.

She fell in love with languages at an early age. By high school, she was translating Russian scientific journals for a government research institute. She studied Russian at Georgetown and earned a master's degree from George Washington University.

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The Issues

In her new job, Gottemoeller is responsible for making sure non-proliferation treaties are followed. Her top priorities include resolving Russia's problems with the European Conventional Arms Treaty, advocating for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) and developing methods to prove that Iran and North Korea are sticking to any commitments they make to disarm.

Relations with Russia

The relationship between America and the former Soviet Union has degraded over the last several years, as the United States stepped out of formerly agreed-upon treaties like the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (ABM) in order to build a defense shield.

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Gottemoeller believes improving the U.S. relationship with Moscow is vital for nuclear security. In order to get back on track, she began re-negotiating the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) in April 2009. The treaty sets requirements for the number of nuclear weapons that must be destroyed and is set to expire in December 2009.

She has had some success. In April 2010, Gottemoeller was on hand to announce that 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.

North Korea

Gottemoeller said that her experience negotiating in Ukraine taught her three lessons that would be useful in North Korea. She advised U.S. negotiators to preserve North Korea's ability to protect itself. Second, she said that President Obama must be involved directly with the country to show that the U.S. is serious about the country's nuclear weapons policy. Third, hard deadlines with deadlines and penalties are essential.

Iran

An Iran that can produce nuclear weapons is unacceptable to the U.S., Gottemoeller said at her April 2009 confirmation hearings. While she will not negotiate with Iran directly, she will focus on ensuring that any agreements can be verified. "The United States, and indeed the world, needs to know that any illicit nuclear weapons activities in states such as Iran and North Korea have been terminated," she told the Senate. "That is why effective verification of their compliance with such agreements is so crucial."

She has called Russia a vital ally in stopping Iran's nuclear progress. "If the United States and Russia begin to work together, we could see some progress on proliferation," she wrote in an October 2003 L.A. Times article. "With nuclear crises on two continents, the United States needs every tool it can get, and it needs the cooperation of Moscow."

Nuclear Safety

Gottemoeller has lobbied for federal laws that would require every U.S. city develop a detailed strategy for dealing with radiological bomb attacks. She also advocated for public-service campaigns to inform the public about how to react if an attack were to take place.

The Network

Gottemoeller joins a nuclear non-proliferation team that includes her potential boss 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 Gary Samore, a special assistant to the president on non-proliferation.

Gottemoeller joins several former Clinton-era National Security Council members in the Obama administration including Philip H. Gordon, assistant secretary of state for Europe and Eurasia, and Carlos Pascual, Obama's pick for ambassador to Mexico.

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