We Negotiate to Avoid Catastrophe: A Conversation with Jennie Gromoll

"Send a text sharing your thoughts about the episode."What does it take to prevent catastrophe in a world where the stakes include nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons? This conversation explores the quiet, often unseen work of negotiation that has helped reduce global threats over decades—from Cold War arms control to the dismantlement of weapons programs in regions of conflict. Through an insider’s perspective, the episode examines how trust, verification, patience, and human relationships shape outcomes in high-stakes diplomacy, and why preserving institutional knowledge across generations may be as critical as the agreements themselves.Our guest, Jennie Gromoll, has four decades of experience in U.S. and international weapons of mass destruction (WMD) policymaking. Jennie worked on nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons negotiations and dismantlement of WMD programs. She promotes cross-discipline solutions across the international security field, and preserves lessons learned through archival documents and related oral histories. She is a Senior Fellow associated with Sandia National Laboratories, the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS), and the Odesa Nonproliferation Center (OdCNP). She is on the Board of Trustees of the British American Security Information Council (BASIC).