Centers of Excellence in East Asia: Encouraging Collaborative Approaches to Nuclear Security

Given the surge of nuclear security initiatives following the launch of the Nuclear Security Summit (NSS) process in 2010, attention has naturally turned to assessing the progress made over the last five years. This brief seeks to examine the role and impact of the national centers of excellence (COE) for nuclear security education and training that have been established or are in the process of being established in East Asia. The authors assess ways to improve coordination among the COE and how, as the centers evolve, they might play a greater role in improving transparency, building international standards, and coordinating policy.