CNS News & Views: July 2021

Middlebury Institute of International Studies

July 2021

Join Our Team!

We are looking for an experienced PhD or MD for our Director CBWNP/Senior Scientist position and a Postdoctoral/Sabbatical Fellow. Please share these announcements with your colleagues, friends, and networks.

The Director of the Chemical and Biological Weapons Nonproliferation Program (CBWNP) is responsible for the day-to-day management of the CBWNP and supervision of the Program’s staff and research assistants. As Senior Scientist, she/he develops and writes grant proposals and reports, conducts research projects, teaches lecture and seminar courses, and develops and conducts training activities. This is a full-time staff position. For more information, read the full job description. Information on the Postdoctoral/Sabbatical Fellow is available here.

Summer School Program for Diplomats in Latin America

The 7th Disarmament and Nonproliferation Summer School for Latin American and Caribbean diplomats was held in a virtual format from 28 June - 9 July 2021. The course gathered more than 30 junior- to mid-level diplomats from 16 countries in the region (with a majority of women participants), as well as 35 expert speakers and panelists from around the world.

The full spectrum of nuclear disarmament, arms control, and nonproliferation topics was covered in the course and participants were able to learn from top experts in the field. Several interactive panels were included in the series of lectures including a discussion on the “Challenges and Priorities for the Tenth NPT Review Conference,” a panel discussion that identified key nonproliferation and disarmament challenges and ways to address them, and a panel discussion on the TPNW that was prefaced by a testimony transmitted live from Tokyo by Ms. Masako Wada, a survivor of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.

A millennial’s view: ICBMs are ridiculous

As the most dangerous leg of the nuclear triad, intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) are the epitome of use-it-or-lose-it weapons in a crisis, argues VCDNP Research Associate Noah Mayhew in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. There is no reason to continue with a US nuclear strategy that creates this much risk, especially given the plethora of false alarms of incoming attacks, which are a matter of public record. Put simply, ICBMs are too dangerous.

Not only are intercontinental ballistic missiles inherently destabilizing and unnecessary for a credible deterrent, asserts Mayhew, but they are also far too expensive to justify while issues such as student loan debt, the cost of healthcare, climate change, and the increasing cost of nuclear governance remain such financial draws.

Advancing the Process to Negotiate a Fissile Material Cut-Off Treaty

From June 2018 to December 2019, the European Union and the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) held a series of regional workshops and expert meetings to promote participation in the high-level fissile material cut off treaty (FMCT) expert preparatory group consultative process by states in Africa, Asia, the Pacific, and in Latin America and the Caribbean. CNS’s Jean du Preez, Senior Program Manager for Training and Education, authored a UNODA Occasional Paper reviewing the project’s outcome, as well as perspectives shared by participants in its workshops and expert meetings.

Negotiating a fissile material cut-off treaty (FMCT) has been a focus of the Conference on Disarmament since 1994. 26 years later, the deadlocked Conference on Disarmament still has not found enough common ground to begin formal talks on an FMCT—despite years of intensive, tireless efforts by several office holders and members. Many in the field of disarmament believe this to be a truly missed opportunity.

Read the Occasional Paper

Maintaining the Balance between Development and Nuclear Security

VCDNP Senior Research Associate Ingrid Kirsten has been focusing on the nexus between peaceful uses, nuclear security, and the role of the IAEA in supporting access to the safe, secure, sustainable, and peaceful application of nuclear technologies.

In her article published by NCT Magazine, Kirsten argues for expanded and improved access by developing countries to nuclear technology and its peaceful applications, which she believes will ultimately contribute to strengthening global peace and security. As access to nuclear technologies increases, so will the safety and security infrastructure for their use, as well as the cadre of nuclear professionals that understand the value of nuclear safety and security.