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The University’s status at the leading edge of peace and conflict studies was further reinforced in September 1988. Meeting in France, the Talloires Declaration of University Presidents, noting that “that the universities of the world bear profound moral responsibilities to increase understanding of the awful risks of the nuclear age and to reduce those risks,” called for the development of a common curriculum on international conflict and nuclear disarmament to combat “widespread political illiteracy” about the subject. Ahead of its peers, UIUC

Paul Diehl, Ed Kolodziej, and others discuss peacekeeping and the U.N. in a 1993 conference

already had an established curriculum in place with its Program in Arms Control, Disarmament, and International Security. Offering about two dozen graduate and undergraduate courses, in April 1989 ACDIS produced a guide to further expand awareness of its course offerings among students, offering information on its faculty and program for students, as well as information on relevant library resources available at UIUC. Although the University did not offer a specific degree in the area of international security studies, ACDIS-associated courses provided undergraduates in a variety of disciplines diverse ways to integrate peace and conflict studies into their own specialties, extending the benefits of this vital education for civic literacy to a broad audience.

Fall 1993 brought further professionalization of the ACDIS Library. Although the library was ably staffed by political science graduate students as it grew, its expansion prompted a decision to hire as librarians those receiving formal training at the University’s Graduate School of Library and Information Science. The library’s index was computerized and greater rigor in cataloging provided increased utility for scholars using its specialized collection. Some consideration was given to integrating the ACDIS Library into the overall UIUC library system, but it was decided that the needs of ACDIS were best served by continuing the library’s unique relationship with the general Arms Control Collection at the Main Library, while maintaining its own separate collection specifically focused on the needs of ACDIS scholars.

Nuclear Proliferation and ACDIS Focus on Regional Security Issues

Stephen Cohen (Political Science) became director in 1994. The end of the Cold War prompted a closer focus on unresolved regional security issues and Cohen’s expertise in South Asian security issues was particularly fruitful to this end. Persistent low-level conflict between India and Pakistan was aggravated by the nuclear aspirations of the two parties. This regional studies focus of ACDIS was enhanced during Cohen’s tenure, as the program provided an important venue for groundbreaking discussion between visiting South Asian scholars with the objective of fostering diplomacy and understanding to overcome the threat of conflict.

Cohen’s tenure also saw a transition from the quaint, but cramped, nineteenth-century quarters ACDIS shared in Davenport Hall with IPS with a move to more spacious twentieth-century accommodations in the historic Armory Building during the summer of 1995. The relocation provided more usable space, allowing scholars quiet offices to work in, while offering the convenience of a large conference room, named in memory of Arthur Chilton, who passed away in 1986. A separate space for the library improved security for its collection and improved the environment for use of its resources.

Director Clifford Singer (right) and former director Stephen Cohen

The peaceful end of the Cold War as the last decade of the twentieth century began demonstrated that the contributions of scholarship and diplomacy as components of strategy and understanding were as essential to national security as the capabilities of military force. Yet the end of the era of superpower confrontation did not eliminate the potential for regional conflict. Regional security issues persist, as do vast stocks of nuclear materials that provide an invitation to the dangers of proliferation to both state and non-state actors. The focus on South Asia by ACDIS scholars grew alongside the continuing nuclear programs of India and Pakistan. Nuclear weapon tests by both nations in 1998 were a somber call for the need to match scientific progress with scholarship and strategic diplomacy. The tests punctuated the critical importance of ACDIS in bringing together scholars from the region on neutral ground to discuss issues of mutual concern. This essential task continued as Professor Cliff Singer (Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering) became director in May 1998, succeeding Cohen who took a position as senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.

New International Security Paradigms and Emerging Threats: ACDIS Enters the 21st Century

Reflecting the changing nature of the international situation, the multidisciplinary strengths of ACDIS continue to evolve. With the post-September 11 world situation shaped by the twin threats of terrorism and weapons of mass destruction in the hands of non-state actors, ACDIS scholarship is responding nimbly to address these new challenges in creative ways, building on its traditional academic strengths through the efforts of nearly 40 affiliated faculty members offering some 25 courses in various disciplines. Part of this response involves carrying the unique combination of expertise and sense of purpose that originated with the program’s founders to a new generation of scholars and potential leaders in the area of international security studies. In 2003, ACDIS launched two major initiatives under Singer’s direction designed to address evolving global security problems and at the same time acknowledge the need to nurture the interests of young researchers in these issues. The program was awarded a grant from the MacArthur Foundation for “Strengthening Scientific and Technical Advice on International Peace and Security Policy.” The expressed objective of the grant is to help create a pool of international technical experts specializing in engineering and natural sciences fields, whose work will be closely involved in peace and security questions and who will contribute directly and meaningfully to broader policy debates. A second step that will cement the program’s legacy was the establishment of the ACDIS Director’s Fund to honor past directors of the program on the 25th Anniversary of the founding of ACDIS. The Director’s Fund will be used to provide support to undergraduate and graduate students in international security studies at the University of Illinois. Through these kinds of efforts, ACDIS continues to demonstrate that solutions to the crisis of human conflict are within the reach of humankind.

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