On 25 January 2018, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists moved the hands of the ‘Doomsday Clock’ to 2 Minutes to Midnight, reflecting the lack of progress on nuclear disarmament and the increased threat of conflicts escalating to the actual use of nuclear weapons. The promise of progress from the successful 2010 Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference has all but disappeared, with the commitments not being implemented and States Parties to the NPT failing to agree on a final document in 2015. Since then, we have seen an increasing division between non-nuclear States and nuclear-reliant States on approaches to nuclear disarmament.
These developments have implications for the forthcoming Preparatory Committee Meeting of 2020 NPT Review Conference and for the NPT Review Conference itself. These new developments also have bearing on the UN High-Level Conference on Nuclear Disarmament, scheduled to be held on 14-16 May 2018 and the decision by the Conference on Disarmament (CD) on 16 February 2018 to resume substantive disarmament work after two decades of inaction. Furthermore, as announced by the UN Secretary-General, a review of security and disarmament in order to shape a UN disarmament agenda is planned for release in April or May 2018.
In advance of these events the above sponsors have decided to organize a Framework Forum Roundtable in Geneva to review the issues and propose action.
The program includes:
- H.E. Michael Biontino, Permanent Representative of Germany to the CD
- H.E. Mr. A L A Azeez, Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the UN in Geneva
- Marc Finaud, Geneva Centre for Security Policy;
- Marzhan Nurzhan, Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament, Abolition 2000 Youth Network;
- Paul Ingram, British American Security Information Council;
- Oliver Meier, German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP)
- Louise Doswald-Beck, former Professor of International Law at the Graduate Institute Geneva;
- Sico van der Meer, Clingendael Institute;
- Tarja Cronberg, Middle Powers Initiative, SIPRI Stockholm;
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Co-sponsored by the Basel Peace Office, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Geneva Centre for Security Policy, Middle Powers Initiative, Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament and World Future Council.
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