NOTE: The following is one of a series of case studies produced by the Union of Concerned Scientists' Scientific Integrity Program between 2004 and 2010 to document the abuses highlighted in our 2004 report, Scientific Integrity in Policy Making.
After the George W. Bush administration came into office, the entire scientific committee that advised the State Department on technical matters related to arms control, known as the Arms Control and Nonproliferation Advisory Board, was dismissed, according to then committee chair Richard Garwin.
Scientific Integrity in Policy Making
Garwin, a physicist who had served on the Presidential Scientific Advisory Committee and the Defense Science Board under administrations of both parties, had for decades been a consultant to the national nuclear weapons laboratories and intelligence agencies. The committee also had members with expertise on biological and chemical weapons.
In 2005, the committee was reconstituted by the State Department with a new membership, under the leadership of Fred Thompson. Shortly thereafter its name was changed to the International Security Advisory Board, and as of 2012 it has 23 members and is chaired by William Perry, former United States Secretary of Defense.