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Home » Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security » Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation (ISN) » Our Offices

The Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation is  organized into 12 offices:

• Office of Nuclear Energy, Safety and Security (NESS): This office has the lead in developing U.S. policy related to peaceful nuclear cooperation policy, nuclear safety, nuclear export controls, and the physical protection of nuclear materials and facilities, in furtherance of U.S. nuclear nonproliferation goals.
• Office of Multilateral Nuclear and Security Affairs (MNSA): This office has the lead role on a variety of multilateral arms control, nonproliferation, and disarmament issues including: the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT); safeguards, nuclear security, and technical cooperation programs under the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); U.S. bilateral safeguards and sister laboratory arrangements; fissile material cutoff; nuclear testing; outer space arms control (PAROS) negotiations; nuclear-weapon-free-zone treaties and protocols; security assurances; G8 and EU (CONOP and CODUN) nonproliferation and disarmament dialogues; the UN Register of Conventional Arms; and multilateral negotiations related to conventional weapons (e.g., at the UN or CD).
• Office of Regional Affairs (RA): This office supports the Bureau’s work on diplomatic responses to specific bilateral and regional WMD proliferation challenges, including today’s threats posed by Iran, North Korea, and Syria. It also will develop and support strategic dialogues with India, Pakistan, China, and other key states or groups of states for which the lead role is not assigned elsewhere within ISN.
• Office of Missile, Biological and Chemical Nonproliferation (MBC): ISN/MBC manages USG effort to impede, roll back, and eliminate the proliferation of chemical and biological weapons (CBW), missile delivery systems for weapons of mass destruction (WMD – nuclear and CBW), and related equipment, materials, and technology.
• Office of Conventional Arms Threat Reduction (CATR): ISN/CATR leads the working-level USG efforts to curb the proliferation of advanced conventional weapons (ACW) such as Man-Portable Air Defense Systems (MANPADS), major weapons systems and heavy military equipment (tanks, aircraft, missiles), sensors and lasers, and precision-guided munitions.
• Office of Counter-Proliferation Initiatives (CPI): This office has take the lead in developing, implementing, and improving counterproliferation efforts, such as the Proliferation Security Initiative or other efforts to interdict or deny shipments of WMD, and their means of delivery, and promoting observance of UN Security Council Resolution 1540.
• Office of the Biological Policy Staff (BPS): The Biological Policy Staff (ISN/BPS) works to impede and roll back the threat of acquisition or use of biological weapons by state and no-state actors by overseeing U.S. implementation of the Biological Weapons convention (BWC), coordinating Department efforts in support of the National Strategy for Countering Biological Threats, developing and promoting measures to prevent misuse of advances in the life sciences, and developing policies to use nonproliferation tools to impede and prevent bioterrorism.
• Office of Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR): The Office of Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) overseas the diplomatic aspects of programs aimed at reducing the threat posed by terrorist organizations or states of concern seeking to acquire weapons of mass destruction (WMD) expertise, materials and equipment. In addition to continued efforts in Iraq, the former Soviet Union, and Libya to engage former WMD experts, the GTR programs are working to reduce the rapidly growing worldwide WMD threat posed by terrorists, non-state actors, and proliferant states.
• Office of Export Control Cooperation (ECC): The role of this office is to formulate, coordinate, and strengthen U.S. nonproliferation export control assistance, including promotion of bilateral and multilateral coordination of assistance. ECC also manages the Export Control and Related Border Security (EXBS) program in order to help governments to establish, strengthen, and enforce export/border control systems and responsible export control policies consistent with international norms.
• Office of the Nonproliferation and Disarmament Fund (NDF): This office develops, coordinates, executes, implements, and evaluates projects in coordination with Department policymakers and the U.S. Government nonproliferation community to promote effective bilateral and multilateral nonproliferation and disarmament programs.
• Office of WMD Terrorism (WMDT): This office enhances international security against the threat of WMD terrorism by strengthening political and operational capability of international partners to deter, detect, defeat, and respond to terrorists and their facilitators.
• Office of Strategic Communications and Outreach (SCO): This office serves as the public affairs and press office for ISN. ISN/SCO also to manages ISN’s legislative affairs and engages in outreach efforts for ISN issue areas with appropriate experts in academia, the private sector, and the NGO community.