NTI: Global Security Newswire

Working for a Safer World

Concerned that the threat from nuclear weapons had fallen off most people’s radar screens after the end of the Cold War, CNN founder Ted Turner asked former Senator Sam Nunn in the spring of 2000 to help assess whether a private organization could make a difference. After months of discussions and consultations with some of the world’s most respected security experts, Mr. Turner and Senator Nunn founded the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) in January 2001. Initially supported by a pledge from Mr. Turner and other private contributions, NTI is now classified as a 501© 3 public charity.

NTI’s mission is to strengthen global security by reducing the risk of use and preventing the spread of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. NTI seeks to raise public awareness, serve as a catalyst for new thinking and take direct action to reduce these threats. In addition to Mr. Turner and Senator Nunn, NTI is guided by an experienced, international Board of Directors who share a common goal of taking action to reduce the gap between the global threats and the global response. The foundation’s activities are directed by Senator Nunn and managed by President Charles B. Curtis.

NTI has created this web site to give people access to the facts about these threats. These issues need to be debated beyond a small circle of experts and policy-makers so that closing the gap between the threat and the response becomes a global priority. The terrorists who planned and carried out the attacks on September 11th showed a willingness to take innocent lives, limited only by the capacity of the weapons available to them. The world’s security may depend on who moves faster – those trying to get weapons material and know-how or those trying to secure them. The world needs to do everything possible to keep weapons of mass destruction out of terrorist hands.

NTI is an operational organization – actively engaged in developing, shaping and implementing the projects we fund. In addition to building global awareness, NTI is engaged in model programs to inspire private and governmental efforts toward threat reduction.

Program areas include: