The National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation plans to continue its relationship with the Washington-based Stimson Center for another five years, under a high-level education and public relations contract announced this week.
The contract, yet to be awarded, will sustain “ongoing work that is intended to improve the strategic dialogue and reduce the risk of conflict in South Asia by engaging with officials in India and Pakistan and regional experts and analysts,” a Stimson spokesperson said via email late Tuesday. India and Pakistan are both nuclear-armed nations.
The Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation office plans to award the contract in April, according to a sole-source notice posted online. It will be the third time the NNSA has partnered with Stimson for mostly U.S.-based services, including:
- Hosting visiting fellows from India and Pakistan;
- Various research and analyses and articles and producing reports on South Asian strategic and nuclear issues that will contribute to the understanding of conflict dynamics and competition in the region.
- Developing and maintaining online resources for use by South Asian strategic and nuclear analysts and practitioners
- Organizing discussions that facilitate engagement between and with strategic analysts and practitioners from India and Pakistan
Stimson will also provide “highly specialized expertise on South Asian regional security issues and access to key Indian and Pakistani officials, academics, policy analysts/researchers, and journalists, and who might benefit from and/or contribute to specialized instruction, organized discourse, research and analysis, and other activities aimed at improving the strategic dialogue and reducing the risk of conflict in the region,” the NNSA wrote in the notice.
The agency did not disclose the financial terms of the contract. The previous contract was also a five-year deal, the Stimson spokesperson said.
