The Program in Arms Control, Disarmament, and International Security
(ACDIS) is a multidisciplinary venture at the University of Illinois
that facilitates objective basic research, education and outreach on
international security issues. A central objective is to disseminate
the findings to the policymaking community, academia, educators, and
students. The strength of the Program rests in its ability to integrate
insights generated by engineers, natural scientists, social scientists,
and scholars of the humanities to produce comprehensive analyses that
do not reduce security issues to singular and simplifying explanations.
International security challenges are approached as complex phenomena
that can only be understood through an examination of multiple causes
and impacts.
The Program facilitates the pursuit of interdisciplinary research
initiatives, especially through targeted proposals for extramural
funding, and assists in the dissemination of the relevant findings to
the policymaking community through a series of publications and the
organization of policy briefing events. The Program's mission to make
people aware of the multiple causes underlying international security
issues extends to a commitment to educate students and the general
public through the organization of workshops, conferences, and
colloquia, complemented by a presence in University of Illinois
undergraduate and graduate curricula.
Our current topical areas of specialization include: