Bio
Robert Berls served as a senior advisor in the Nuclear Security Project. Having joined NTI in its first year, Berls directed or helped manage all of NTI’s projects in Russia that have addressed nuclear, chemical and biological threats.
Among other projects, he led the NTI initiative at Russia’s SarovLabs, part of a U.S.-Russian effort to find new commercial avenues for the former Soviet Union’s “Nuclear Cities” which supported the country’s nuclear weapons complex. NTI helped the lab develop international marketing capabilities, which led to a multifold increase in revenue and staff size, ensuring there were alternatives to seeking work that could contribute to global proliferation. He also managed NTI’s role to fund high-priority infrastructure development for the Shchuch’ye Chemical Weapons Destruction Facility in Siberia, to help Russia meet its goal to destroy all chemical weapons by 2012.
Berls represented NTI on the Carnegie Endowment’s Euro-Atlantic Security Initiative (EASI), a high-level international commission addressing Euro-Atlantic security needs for the twenty-first century. Berls served as executive director of an EASI working group on missile defense. NTI co-chairman and chief executive officer, former Senator Sam Nunn, served as an EASI co-chair.
Berls has been instrumental in establishing and managing the Younger Generation Leaders Network on Euro-Atlantic Security (YGLN) — a capacity-building initiative established by NTI in 2014 that is designed to foster dialogue among young emerging leader from the United States, Russia, Ukraine, and Europe on contemporary challenges facing the Euro-Atlantic region. He is also co-author with his colleague Leon Ratz of a series of NTI Papers on “Rising Nuclear Dangers.”
Berls’ career spanned military, government, academia and business. He served 26 years in the U.S. Air Force, rising to the rank of colonel. During the 1980s he served as air attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow. He served as special assistant to the Secretary of Energy for Russia/NIS programs, during the first Clinton Administration.
His academic credentials include teaching positions at the National War College, National Defense University and the U.S. Air Force Academy. Before joining NTI, he was vice president for business development and government relations for a U.S. oil company.
Berls held a doctorate in Russian area studies from Georgetown University, a master’s degree in Soviet Studies from Harvard University and a bachelor’s degree in Russian Area Studies from Colgate University. He spoke Russian fluently.
Berls passed away on November 10, 2021.
Analysis
Toward 2024 and Beyond: The Fate of Vladimir Putin’s Reign, Part II
Berls looks at prospects for Russia after Putin and offer some possible scenarios that Russia could face when the reign of Vladimir Putin comes to an end.
Toward 2024 and Beyond: The Fate of Vladimir Putin’s Reign, Part I
Berls explores the fate of Vladimir Putin and his ability, his plans, and even his desire to hold on to power until 2024 and perhaps beyond.
Projects
Past Project Younger Generation Leaders Network on Euro-Atlantic Security
Developing a new generation of leaders
Past Project New Opportunities for Russia’s Closed Cities
NTI supported model projects in Russia’s closed nuclear cities to help prevent the spread of nuclear knowledge
Past Project Euro-Atlantic Security Initiative (EASI)
A high-level international commission with a unique goal to lay the intellectual foundation for an inclusive Euro-Atlantic security system for the twenty-first century