CNS News & Views: April 2021

Middlebury Institute of International Studies

April 2021

Celebrating Women in Nonproliferation

The month of March is recognized in the United States and other countries as Women’s History Month. Recalling this year’s celebration of Women’s History Month, CNS and the VCDNP wanted to acknowledge the contributions of the incredible women at our organizations throughout March 2021 and year-round to global peace and security.

Initiatives and programs featured in the spotlight are all designed to advance the role of women in nonproliferation globally. These initiatives empower young women to become the next generation of nonproliferation experts through access to training and education, professional networks, and by providing them with the tools to amplify their voices.

New E-Learning on Gender and Disarmament

How are gender and disarmament related? What role does gender play in disarmament? These questions are addressed in the new EU Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Consortium eLearning unit authored by the VCDNP’s Mara Zarka , produced by the Peace Research Institute Frankfurt and funded by the European Union.

This eLearning unit is the first of five new units to be published in 2021. The unit promotes understanding the importance of gender in disarmament through videos, photos, graphics, and quizzes. Topics covered include arms control theory, weapons of mass destruction and conventional weapons, humanitarian arms control, and emerging technologies.

Access eLearning unit

Syrian Chemical Weapons

On April 6, 2021 CNS held an online seminar titled "Syria's Chemical Weapons Disarmament - Past Achievements and Ongoing Challenges." CNS non-resident senior scholar Hanna Notte hosted two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Joby Warrick for a discussion on his latest book Red Line: The Unraveling of Syria and America’s Race to Destroy the Most Dangerous Arsenal in the World. The event focused on past achievements and ongoing challenges related to Syria’s chemical weapons.

During the seminar, different dimensions of the chemical weapons disarmament effort in Syria between 2013 and 2014 were reviewed. Notte and Warrick highlighted the significance of US-Russian cooperation, the threat of chemical weapons proliferation to non-state actors, and the operational challenges before the OPCW-UN Joint Mission. Additional topics included the post-2014 unravelling of international consensus on Syria’s chemical weapons dossier and ways in which further erosion of the chemical weapons taboo could be mitigated.

Watch the seminar

VCDNP Short Course

March 15-26, 2021 the VCDNP held its twenty-first intensive short course on nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament for diplomats and practitioners. In a virtual format, the VCDNP welcomed 37 participants from government agencies, embassies, permanent missions, and academic institutions from 33 countries. Women made up 51% of participants and 70% of the lectures included women speakers.

The ten-day course covered a wide range of nonproliferation and disarmament topics, included three panel discussions, a participant social, and featured case studies on Iran and North Korea’s nuclear programs. To facilitate interaction during the course, the program included online polls, quizzes, and designated discussion sessions with breakout rooms.

Modeling the Food Supply Chain During the Pandemic

On April 15, 2021 CNS’s Scientist-in-Residence Ferenc Dalnoki-Veress gave a presentation about modeling the food supply chain during the current pandemic. The talk included an in-depth exploration of supply chain items we rely heavily upon and the ways in which disasters disrupt global supply chains. Striking images illustrated examples of interruptions in the supply chain, such as thousands of Americans in lines at food banks while farmers were forced to dump unsold milk; the snowstorm and power outage in Texas; and the severe shortage of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), among others.

Dalnoki-Veress then described his ongoing research with scientists from the Western Institute for Food Safety & Security modeling the dairy supply chain. Conditions that have occurred during the pandemic and could occur in the future were modeled to stress-test the supply chain for operational and disruption risks. The aim is to calculate the effect of disruptions, plan mitigation measures, and build resilient networks.