CNS strives to combat the spread of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) by training the next generation of nonproliferation specialists and disseminating timely information and analysis. It is the largest nongovernmental organization in the United States devoted exclusively to research and training on nonproliferation issues. It is located at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, with additional locations in Washington, DC and Vienna, Austria as the Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation (VCDNP).