NPT RevCon Ends in Failure

  

The 2015 Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, or NPT, concluded on May 22 without adopting a final document, as the United States, supported by the United Kingdom and Canada, objected to draft text concerning the Middle East. The extreme opening position staked out by Egypt "on behalf of the Arab League" at the outset of the conference provided ample early indication about how difficult it would be to reach consensus. 

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Angela Kane Receives Honorary Degree at MIIS Spring 2015 Commencement

CNS Director William Potter with UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Angela Kane

At the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey Spring 2015 Commencement Ceremony, United Nations High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Angela Kane received an Honorary Doctorate Degree of Humane Letters for her tireless efforts to promote disarmament and nonproliferation.  

The presentation of the honorary degree to Ms. Kane followed the welcome remarks by Dr. Jeff Dayton-Johnson, vice president of academic affairs and dean of the Institute, who lauded CNS for its renowned analysis and research on critical global challenges such as those posed by North Korea's nuclear program, Syria's chemical weapon disarmament, and the Iranian nuclear deal.

 

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CNS-NTI Models Provide 3D Look at Weapons behind the Headlines

China's DF-5 missile

From North Korea's dubious new submarine-launched ballistic missile to China's newly MIRV'ed missile (the capability to put multiple, independently-targeted warheads on one missile), CNS-- thanks to generous funding from NTI-- uses open-source information and three-dimensional modeling technology to provide decision makers, journalists, and students with a rare look at the weapons and delivery systems that make the headlines. 

New models are published and/or updated every week. Follow developments on Twitter with #3DThursday.

Fresh Ideas for the Future: Symposium on the NPT, Nuclear Disarmament, Nonproliferation, and Energy

Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders welcomes UN Messenger of Peace Michael Douglas, with UN High Representative Angela Kane

On April 28, 2015, CNS joined Harvard University's Belfer Center, the Netherlands government, and the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs in convening nuclear nonproliferation experts from around the world at the United Nations to participate in a symposium on the Treaty on the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, the NPT.

The symposium aimed to accomplish two goals. The first was to present and discuss cutting-edge scholarly research on issues with which delegates to the 2015 NPT Review Conference must grapple. The intent was to facilitate sound decision making at the Review Conference by offering creative but practical conceptual innovations, critical analysis, and empirical evidence drawn from academic research. The second major purpose was to expose early-career academic researchers to the review process, where they would have an opportunity to share their research findings and interact with practitioners.

Convening during the 2015 NPT Review Conference, the symposium included welcoming remarks by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands Bert Koenders, UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Angela Kane, and UN Messenger of Peace Michael Douglas.

Visit our website for symposium presentation texts, videos, posters, slides, photos, and more. 

Student Conference Held in Hiroshima for 70th Anniversary: Critical Issues Forum

CIF participants in front of the Hiroshima Children's Peace Monument

From April 2-4, 2015, students from the United States and Russia joined Japanese students in Hiroshima, Japan, for CNS's annual Critical Issues Forum (CIF) conference on nuclear disarmament. 

This was the first time in the eighteen-year history of the CIF that the student conference was held in Hiroshima, the first city to have ever experienced nuclear devastation, in commemoration of the seventieth anniversary of the 1945 atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The three-day conference included two days of students' presentations at Hiroshima Jogakuin, where all the participating schools demonstrated their semester-long studies on this year's topic, "Nuclear Disarmament: Humanitarian Approach."

The last day of the conference featured speeches by Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, Hiroshima Governor Hidehiko Yuzaki, as well as a keynote speech by Mr. Yoshitoshi Nakamura, the deputy director general in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs's Disarmament, Non-Proliferation, and Science Department. 

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