Ambassador Bonnie D. Jenkins
Coordinator for Threat Reduction Programs

Ambassador Bonnie Jenkins, Coordinator for Threat Reduction Programs at the U.S. Department of State visited Santiago October 28 and 29 for talks with Chilean authorities on the possibility of Chile hosting a regional summit on nuclear security. This regional summit would serve as follow-on to the successful global summit on nuclear security held in Washington in April 2010, at the invitation of President Barack Obama.

At April 2010 Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, representatives of 47 nations achieved a common understanding of the threat of nuclear terrorism and agreed on the need to secure nuclear material and prevent the smuggling of these items. A policy statement issued by the heads of state and government who attended supported a substantial work plan to implement the commitments of the summit.

The regional summit in Chile would contribute to discussion and ideas presented at the Washington summit. It would also serve as a forum for the exchange of information on efforts to strengthen nuclear safety both nationally and internationally and as a tool to improve coordination of initiatives, in order to deepen security in South America.

Ambassador Jenkins is a leading expert on arms control and nonproliferation. She was appointed by President Obama in July 2009, after serving as Senior Program Officer for Foreign Policy and U.S. Security at the Ford Foundation.

Ambassador Jenkins is a graduate of the University of Albany Law School and holds a Master’s degree in law from Georgetown University, and a Ph.D. in International Relations from the University of Virginia. Ambassador Jenkins has held various important government positions in the field of counterterrorism, as well as serving as legal adviser to U.S. negotiators of arms control treaties.