Meet our Next Speaker
Dan Poneman
July 20, 2026
Topic: Prospects for Further Nuclear Weapons Proliferation
Daniel B. Poneman is a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). His work is focused on nuclear security issues.
From 2015 through 2023, Poneman served as president and chief executive officer of Centrus Energy Corp., of Bethesda, Maryland, a trusted supplier of nuclear fuel and services for the nuclear power industry. Prior to joining Centrus, Poneman served as U.S. deputy secretary of energy and as chief operating officer of the department from 2009 to 2014. Between April and May 2013, Poneman served as acting secretary of energy. He was an adjunct senior fellow for U.S. foreign policy at CFR from October 2008 through June 2009.
Before assuming his responsibilities as deputy secretary, Poneman served as a principal of the Scowcroft Group for eight years. From 1993 through 1996, he served as special assistant to the president and senior director for nonproliferation and export controls at the National Security Council. His responsibilities there included the development and implementation of U.S. policy in peaceful nuclear cooperation, missile technology, space-launch activities, sanctions determinations, chemical and biological arms control efforts, and conventional arms transfer policy.
Poneman first joined the Department of Energy in 1989 as a White House fellow. In 1990, he joined the National Security Council staff as director of defense policy and arms control. Between tours of government service, Poneman practiced law for nine years in Washington, DC, as an associate at Covington & Burling and as a partner at Hogan & Hartson.
Poneman has published widely on national security issues. He is the author of Nuclear Power in the Developing World, Argentina: Democracy on Trial, and Double Jeopardy: Combating Nuclear Terror and Climate Change. His third book, Going Critical: The First North Korean Nuclear Crisis (coauthored with Joel Wit and Robert Gallucci), received the 2005 Douglas Dillon Award for Distinguished Writing on American Diplomacy.
Poneman received AB and JD degrees with honors from Harvard University and an MLitt in politics from Oxford University.
Meetings open to members and members’ guests only. Unless otherwise noted, all meetings take place at Elk Hall, 210 Rankin Street in Rockland. The speaker begins promptly at noon and lunch is served from 1 PM.
Audios of Past Presentations
Listed below are links to recent presentations. Click to listen:
- Sir Masood Ahmed: World Development and the US Role
- Dr. Isaiah Wilson: Why America Keeps Winning Battles—and Losing the Peace
- George Chalos: Anchoring Power – The Rise of the US as Global Enforcers in the Maritime Industry Click here for Slides.
- Christina Bobrow: Ice in the Mediterranean: Frozen Conflict on the Island of Cyprus Click here for Slides
- Nader Habibi: The Economy of Iran in the Shadow of International Sanctions and the Supreme Leader
- Blas Nuñez-Neto: Status of Asylum Laws and Practices Click here for Slides
- Jane Holl Lute: Securing the Homeland Since 9/11: What Have We Learned?
- Silkroad Trio (Soft Power in Action) Introductory Panel Silkroad Performance
- Ambassador Christopher Hill: Foreign Policy Challenges in Uncertain Times
- Mohamed Bouabdallah and Carla Canales: Soft Power — An Essential Element of Foreign Relations
- Farah Pandith: SOFT POWER — How We Win: The Threat from Hate and the Power of Compassion
- Sherri Goodman: Arctic Security in a Changing Environment and Sherri’s Slides: Threat Multiplier
- Kenneth Frankel: How Current US Policies Create Uncertainty in Western Hemisphere Relations
- Ambassador Jeffrey Feltman: Adrift: The UN, Multilateralism, and US Disengagement
- Joshua Landis: Syria and the Middle East
- Martin Mühleisen on The IMF and World Bank in the New Geopolitical Environment
- Admiral Michael Rogers on Current Hot Spots of the World
- Henry Haggard on The US-Korea Relationship in Transition
- Ambassador Douglas Lute on The Future of NATO
- James Bosworth on Mapping Latin America’s Current Politics
- Clark Adams on Defense Diplomacy in Central Asia and Clark’s slides: Defense Diplomacy
- John Lee on China and Indo-Pacific Security
- Dr. Steven Koonin on The Realities of Climate and Energy. and Steve’s slides: Realities slides
- Dr. Elizabeth Cameron on National Security in an Age of Pandemic Threats
- Ambassador Lawrence Butler: NATO at 75—Relevant, Obsolete, or Dangerous?
- Jack Goldsmith on The Decline of Congress in the Conduct of Foreign Affairs, and accompanying slides
- Robert Einhorn on Nuclear Non-proliferation
- Matthew Goodwin on Brexit, Trump, Le Pen, and National Populism
- Ambassador Anne Hall: The Baltic Nations — Profiles in Courage
- Ambassador Jake Walles: The Israel-Gaza Conflict
- Heather Cox Richardson: Democracy Awakening
- John Deutch: Challenges to Future Climate Policy
- Thomas Blanton: The Downsides of Government Secrecy
- Shanthi Kalathil: Challenges to Democracy in the Age of Misinformation
- Ambassador Charles Ray: Why Africa Matters
- Tom Ricks: First Principles: What America’s Founders Learned from the Greeks and Romans and How That Shaped Our Country
- Amna Nawaz: On the Frontlines: Reporting Overseas and Here at Home
- Christopher Costa: Counterterrorism and the Future Terrorism Threat
- Susan Landau: The Reality of Cyberwar — In Ukraine and Elsewhere
- Jon Wolfsthal: Is a New Era of Nuclear Danger Upon Us?
- Amb. Derek Mitchell: Democracy and International Security
- Admiral Michael Rogers: Russia and Ukraine
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