Nuclear Risks and Regional Stability in the Middle East

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The Middle East Policy Forum, in partnership with the Institute for Security and Conflict Studies, welcomes Professor Sina Azodi, Ambassador (ret.) Bonnie Jenkins, and subject area expert Ms. Clara Sherwood, to discuss Nuclear Risks and Regional Stability in the Middle East.

The Middle East nuclear debate has never been more relevant than it is in 2026. To discuss this issue, our panelists will examine regional and global attitudes towards nuclear weapons in the Middle East, with an eye toward generating conclusions and strategies regarding the future of non-proliferation in the region.

This distinguished panel includes Professor Sina Azodi, a renowned Iran expert whose recent book, Iran and the Bomb, offers one of the most in-depth examinations of the Iranian nuclear program to date. Joining Professor Azodi is Ambassador (ret.) Bonnie Jenkins, the former Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security from 2021-2024 and current Elliott School Shapiro Visiting Professor of International Affairs. Rounding out the panel is Ms. Clara Sherwood, Executive Director at the National Nuclear Security Administration and a foreign affairs specialist with experience across U.S. government agencies, think tanks, and international programs.

We hope you will join the Middle East Policy Forum and the Institute for Security and Conflict Studies to discuss Nuclear Risks and Regional Stability in the Middle East. This event is open to the general public and the media. Copies of Iran and the Bomb will be available for purchase at the event.

Speakers

Professor Sina Azodi is an expert in international security, nuclear nonproliferation, Iranian politics and U.S.-Iranian relations. He previously worked as a research assistant at Princeton University’s Program on Science and Global Security and Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Dr. Azodi is a frequent commentator on both English- and Persian-speaking media, including BBC, Sky News, Al-Jazeera, TRT World, and i24. His analyses have appeared in Columbia University’s Journal of International Affairs, Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, Arms Control Association, Center for Strategic and International Studies, and Foreign Policy, and has been quoted by the New York Times, Washington Post, Spiegel, and Forbes. Dr. Azodi has published the chapter “The Fusion of Politics and Religion in Iran” in the edited book Political Islam in the Gulf Region. He is the author of Iran and the Bomb: the United States, Iran and the Nuclear Question. He earned his BA and MA in international affairs from the Elliott School of International Affairs at the George Washington University, and PhD from University of South Florida.

Ambassador (ret.) Bonnie Jenkins served as Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security from 2021 to 2024, the first African American to hold the position, overseeing three bureaus and, at Secretary Blinken’s appointment in 2023, leading the Department’s implementation of the AUKUS security partnership. During the Obama Administration, she served as Special Envoy and Coordinator for Threat Reduction Programs, leading efforts to keep WMD materials from non-state actors, heading the U.S. delegation to the Nuclear Security Summits, representing the U.S. in the G7 Global Partnership, and directing diplomatic work on the Global Health Security Agenda. Earlier, she was counsel to the 9/11 Commission and a legal advisor to the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency. A former nonresident senior fellow at Brookings, she founded Women of Color Advancing Peace and Security (WCAPS) and Organizations in Solidarity to broaden participation in international affairs. She has taught arms control and WMD courses at the Elliott School and delivered its 2021 graduation keynote. Ambassador Jenkins holds a Ph.D. from the University of Virginia and an LL.M. from Georgetown, was a fellow at Harvard’s Belfer Center, and is a retired U.S. Naval Reserve Officer.

Ms. Clara Sherwood is an Executive Director at the National Nuclear Security Administration and a foreign affairs specialist with experience across U.S. government agencies, think tanks, and international programs. She previously served as an Acting Program Officer at the U.S. Department of State while completing her graduate degree in International Affairs at George Washington University. She is a 2025 CSIS Project on Nuclear Issues Scholar, a former Fulbright Scholar in Morocco, and a two-time recipient of the State Department’s Critical Language Scholarship in Arabic. Outside of her professional work, Clara is a trained multi-genre vocalist and a former collegiate lacrosse player.