Frank G. Klotz

Photo of Frank Klotz
Adjunct Senior Fellow
Off Site Office

Education

DPhil in politics, Oxford University; MPhil in international relations, Oxford University; BS in international affairs, U.S. Air Force Academy

Overview

Lt Gen Frank Klotz (USAF, Ret) is an adjunct senior fellow at the RAND Corporation. From April 2014 to January 2018, he served as the Under Secretary of Energy for Nuclear Security and Administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration. In this Senate-confirmed position, he was responsible for the U.S. Department of Energy’s wide-ranging scientific and technical activities to maintain an effective U.S. nuclear deterrent and to reduce the threat of nuclear proliferation and nuclear terrorism. While on active duty, he served in several senior military posts, including the first Commander of Air Force Global Strike Command, Assistant Vice Chief of Staff and Director of the Air Staff, Vice Commander of Air Force Space Command; the National Security Council staff, Defense Attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, and Defense Plans Officer at the U.S. Mission to NATO Headquarters in Brussels. Following his retirement from active duty in 2011, he became a senior fellow for strategic studies and arms control at the Council on Foreign Relations. A distinguished graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, he attended the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, where he earned an M.Phil. in international relations and a D.Phil. in politics. He is also a graduate of the National War College.

Research Focus

Commentary

  • A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying Starlink satellites into orbit lifts off from Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, FL, October 6, 2020, photo by Space X/Latin America News Agency/Reuters

    How to Avoid a Space Arms Race

    Some 70 countries and multinational organizations own or operate satellites and there are plans for many more. Multilateral cooperative efforts could help set a foundation for the adoption of transparency and confidence measures that offer realistic hope of reducing risks and protecting freedom of access to space for all nations.

    Oct 26, 2020 The Hill

  • The U.N. Security Council's five permanent members (P5) attend a Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons conference in Beijing, China, January 30, 2019, photo by Thomas Peter/Reuters

    Negotiating with Great Powers on Nuclear Arms

    New START, the U.S.-Russia arms control treaty, expires in February 2021. Washington insists that any follow-on accord must include China. But overcoming Beijing's reticence to engage in nuclear talks will likely take deft diplomacy, time, and patience.

    Aug 3, 2020 RealClearDefense

  • Signal cables are laid out at a test location on Yucca Flat, the principal underground nuclear weapons testing area at the Nevada Test Site, in the 1990s, photo courtesy of National Nuclear Security Administration/Nevada Field Office

    Nuclear Testing Not Needed Now

    Trump administration officials are reported to have recently discussed conducting a nuclear test, breaking a moratorium the United States has observed since 1992. Such a move is not necessary to ensure the reliability of the U.S. arsenal and could increase threats to U.S. and allied security by giving a green light to others to conduct nuclear tests.

    Jun 11, 2020 Newsweek

Publications