Blair, Charles P.
Biography
Charles P. Blair joined FAS in June 2010. He is the Senior Fellow on State and Non-State Threats. Born and raised in Los Alamos, New Mexico, Mr. Blair was an exchange student in Moscow in the mid-1980s, witnessing firsthand the closing salvos of the Cold War. Since the end of that era, Mr. Blair has worked on issues relating to the diffusion and diversification of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in the context of proliferation amid the rise of mass casualty terrorism incidents and the centripetal and centrifugal elements of globalization. Mr. Blair’s work focuses on state and violent non-state actors (VNSA) – amid a dystopic and increasingly tribal world.
Mr. Blair explores the perceptions of new disruptive technologies (e.g., WMD) and specific indicators of emerging and future-oriented Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and High-Yield Conventional Explosive (CBRNE) proliferation, with regard to both states and VNSAs. Mr. Blair also focuses on the technical dimensions of CBRNE agents and their potential weaponization by VNSAs.
In addition to his role at FAS, Mr. Blair is a lecturer at Johns Hopkins University where he instructs graduate students about the technologies underlying WMD; at George Mason University Mr. Blair lectures on the nexus of terrorism and WMD. Before joining FAS, he was a research associate with the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) where, among other projects, he managed the Global Terrorism Database GTD), the largest open-source compilation of terrorist events in the world.
A noted scholar with deep appreciation and experience with qualitative methodologies, Mr. Blair is known for his effective and pioneering use of quantitative methodological approaches as well. These include the design, creation and utilization of a variety of widely utilized data sets and databases exploring, inter alia, state and non-state involvement with WMD. From 2006-2009 Mr. Blair helped to design and implement the GTD.
Studies possessing both robust qualitative and quantitative considerations can be seen in Mr. Blair’s current work and his recent (open-source) red teaming activities. Mr. Blair spent two years exploring elements of the Pakistani Neo-Taliban. For almost a decade he has studied U.S. right-wing “White” nationalist groups, apocalyptic millenarian ideologies writ large, and other groups with interest and, in some cases, experiences with WMD. Mr. Blair has also worked with the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS), the National Nuclear Security Administration, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), and the Center for Terrorism and Intelligence Studies (CETIS)
Publications:
2013 April 30: CNN-Global Public Square, "U.S. Kicks Syria Chemical Weapons Can Down The Road"
2013 March 26: Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, "The Thin Red Line"
2013 March 20: "Q&A Session On Recent Developments in U.S. and NATO Missile Defense with Dr. Yousaf Butt And Dr. George Lewis"
2012 December 6: Foreign Policy, "Why Assad Won't Use His Chemical Weapons"
2012 November 16: FAS Special Report "Sanctions, Military Strikes, and Other Potential Actions Against Iran"
2012 August 29: National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism, "Radiological and Nuclear Non-State Adversaries (RANNSAD) Dataset"
2012 March 1: Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, "Fearful of a Nuclear Iran? The Real WMD Nightmare is Syria"
2011 November 16: Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, "Fatwas For Fission: Assessing the Terrorist Threat to Pakistan's Nuclear Assets"
2011 July 27: Norway's Anders Breivik: Weapons of Mass Destruction and Politics of Cultural Despair
2011 June: "Anatomizing Non-State Threats to Pakistan's Nuclear Infrastructure: The Pakistani Neo-Taliban"
In the News:
2013 May 10: Global Security Newswire, "Syria 'Ready' To Allow U.N. Chemical Arms Probe"
2013 May 9: Voice of America, "Reports Of Chemical Weapons Use In Syria Murky"
2013 May 2: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, "Tom Ridge Says Obama Erred In Not Treating Bombing Suspect As Enemy Combatant"
2013 April 26: BBC World News America, "Chemical Weapons in Syria"
2013 April 26: Reuters, "Factbox: What Is The Chemical Weapon Sarin?"
2013 April 26: New Scientist, "Threatwatch: Did Syria Use Chemical Weapons Or Not?"
2013 April 25: Russian TV Cross Talk, "Proliferating Hypocrisy"
2013 April 25: Voice of America, "Experts Assess Syria's Chemical Weapons Capabilities"
2013 April 24: NPR, "U.S. Hesitant To Act On Claims Of Chemical Weapons In Syria"
2013 April 23: Foreign Policy, "What Does Assad's WMD Arsenal Look Like?"
2013 April 23: Foreign Policy, "When Does A Chemical Weapon Used As A Weapon Become A 'Chemical Weapon''
2013 April 23: Christian Science Monitor, "Israel Charges Syria With Lethal Chemical Weapons Use"
2013 April 8: Global Security Newswire, "The Paradox of Syria's Chemical Weapons"
2013 March 21: Christian Science Monitor, "The Real Warning in Syrian Chemical Weapons Claims"
2013 March 20: Christian Science Monitor, "All Signs Point To No Lethal Chemical Weapons Attack In Syria"
2013 March 19: Al Jazeera, "U.S. Wades In On Syrian Chemical Weapons Claims"
2012 December 14: The Daily Star (Lebanon), "Does Hezbollah Have Chemical Weapons?"
2012 December 6: Christian Science Monitor, "Syria Chemical Weapons Scare: Is Assad Threatening to Use Them or Lose Them?"
2012 December 6: Reuters TV, "U.S. Warns Syria Not to Use Chemical Weapons"
2012 December 5: BBC News, "Fears Grow for Fate of Syria's Chemical Weapons"
2012 December 5: NBC - Nightly News with Brian Williams, "Syrian Military Loads Chemical Weapons"
2012 December 3: McClatchy Newspapers, "Obama warns Syria about using chemical weapons, threatens 'consequences'"
2012 November 16: Inter Press Service (IPS), "U.S. Escalation Against Iran Would Carry High Cost for Global Economy"
2012 November 16: CNN - Security Clearance Blog, "Putting a Price on War with Iran"
2012 August 24: Al Jazeera, "Russia Says No Chemical Weapons Use in Syria"
2012 August 24: Agence France Presse, "U.S. Weighs Dire Scenarios to Secure Syria's WMD"
2012 August 24: Politico - Morning Defense, "The Chemical Weapons Conundrum"
2012 August 22: Los Angeles Times, "U.S. Has Plans in Place to Secure Syria Chemical Arms"
2012 July 24: NPR, "Obama Warns Syria Against Using Chemical Weapons"
2012 July 19: NPR, "As Fighting in Syria Intensifies, U.S. Worries About Chemical Weapons"
2012 July 17: Christian Science Monitor, "Syria's Top Defector Says Assad Not Afraid to Use Chemical Weapons"
2012 July 17: Discovery News, "Why a Chemical Threat in Syria is Terrifying"
2012 July 16: Foreign Policy, "Just How Deadly is Assad's Arsenal?"
2012 July 16: The Atlantic, "Deadly Uncertainty: The Reason Syria's Chemical Weapons Are So Dangerous"
2012 July 13: National Journal, "Syria's Chemical Weapons: A Perfect Storm?"
2012 June 26: Christian Science Monitor, "Syria's Chemical Weapons: How Secure Are They?"
2012 June 12: Voice of America, "Syria Said to Possess Vast Quantities of Chemical Weapons"
2012 June 18: BBC News, "Fears Grow For Fate of Syria's Chemical Weapons"
2012 June 2: RT, "World at Risk as Syrian Chemical Stockpile Faces Plunder"
2012 March 23: New Scientist, "Syrian Uprising Raises Fears Over Chemical Weapons"
2012 March 13: National Post, "Syria a Chemical Weapon 'Power Keg Ready to Explode,' Experts Fear"
2011 November 17: Hindustan Times, "Real Threat Assessment of Pak Nukes Not Yet Made"
2011 September 16: Huffington Post, "Lone Wolves and Home-Grown Terrorists: Experts Warn of a Growing Threat from Unusual Sources"
2011 September 8: Dayton Daily News, "A Decade Later, Terrorists Have Not Employed Nuclear Weapons"
2011 July 28: Global Security Newswire, "Norway Killer Claims Allies Are Attempting to Acquire WMD"
we2011 July 8: Associated Press, "Woman Accused of Shipping Paint to Pakistani Plant" (mention of Terrorism Analysis Report)
2011 July 1: CNN, "Could Terrorists Take Pakistan Nukes?"
2011 June 29: Politico, "Report: 'Neo-Taliban' Are Most Dangerous Terror Group"
2011 June 29: Wall Street Journal - India Real Time, "Are Pakistan's Nukes Safe?"
2011 June 29: CNN - Global Public Square, "New Report Warns on Pakistan's Nukes"
2011 June 29: Business Insider, "Radicals Closer Than Ever to Pakistan's Nukes"
2011 June 29: iWatch News, "Neo-Taliban Groups Rely on Bold Attacks, Military Connections"
Video:
2011 July 1: CNN, "Could Terrorists Take Pakistan Nukes?"
