Expert on Nuclear Security and Terrorism To Share Experiences in North Korea

CHESTERTOWN—International security expert Jim Walsh will visit Washington College Wednesday, October 6, to share his experiences as an analyst discussing nuclear issues with North Korean officials. The talk, “Inside the Hermit Kingdom, Nuclear Weapons, Alcohol and What I learned in North Korea,” will be held at 4:30 p.m. in Hynson Lounge, Hodson Hall, on the College campus. Sponsored by the Political Science Department, the event is free and open to the public.

Walsh is a Research Associate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Security Studies Program, where he specializes in topics involving terrorism, nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction. He is one of only a handful of Americans who have traveled to both Iran and North Korea to talk with officials about nuclear issues.

Washington College president Mitchell B. Reiss got to know Walsh through his own research and policy work on terrorism and nuclear issues. “Jim Walsh is a first-rate scholar who supplements his academic expertise with real-world investigative zeal,” he says. “His visit will be a great treat for students, faculty and members of the community."

Walsh’s experience and research make him a highly sought-after expert in the media. His comments and analyses have been published in numerous national and international media, including the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times and Times of London. His most recent writing has focused on Egypt’s nuclear future and the challenges of dealing with Iran’s nuclear ambitions. He is working on a new book about North Korea’s nuclear issues to be published by Yale University Press.

He also has made more than 700 appearances on television and radio news programs since 2001, including more than 300 appearances on CNN.

Before joining MIT, Walsh was executive director of the Managing the Atom project at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and a visiting scholar at the Center for Global Security Research at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

Earlier in the day, Walsh will meet with Dr. Christine Wade’s “Revolutions, Violence and Terrorism” class to talk about his experiences in Iran, including meetings with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.