CNS News & Views: March 2023

Middlebury Institute of International Studies

March 2023

International Day for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Awareness

The United Nations has declared the fifth of March as the International Day for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Awareness. This day seeks to promote a better understanding of disarmament and nonproliferation issues among the public and plays a role in deepening the understanding on how disarmament efforts contribute to enhancing global peace and security.

To mark the first-ever International Day for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Awareness, the Permanent Mission of Kyrgyzstan to the United Nations together with the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs co-hosted a virtual launch event on Wednesday March 1, 2023. The event began with opening addresses from H.E. Mr. Zheenbek Kulubaev, H.E. Ms. Izumi Nakamitsu, and H.E. Mr. Csaba Korösi. CNS Founder and Director Dr. William Potter was one of four discussants on the panel discussion that followed where questions on how to mobilize wide-scale support for disarmament and nonproliferation and how to enhance the reach, sustainability, and impact of disarmament education across the globe were addressed.

Intersection of Racial Justice and Nuclear Disarmament

On February 22, 2023, CNS and the MIIS Student Council DEI Committee co-hosted the BIPOC Speaker Series. The featured speaker was Dr. Vincent Intondi, a professor, historian, and author who is widely considered the preeminent authority on the intersection of race and nuclear weapons. His speech, titled, “Intersections of Racial Justice and Nuclear Disarmament” focused on the intersection of race and nuclear weapons and provided an overview of his research on his book, African Americans Against the Bomb.

The event began with an opening statement from CNS Senior Project Manager and Research Associate Ms. Masako Toki that was followed by a welcome from Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of MIIS, Dr. Jeff Dayton-Johnson. Dr. Intondi began the presentation by describing the life-changing impact of his first visit to Hiroshima and Nagasaki as a young student activist in the black freedom movement. Subsequently, Dr. Intondi discussed the important role Black Americans have played in nuclear disarmament, how Black freedom activists saw the connections between colonialism, racism, and nuclear weapons, and answered questions on how youth can become more involved in the nuclear disarmament movement.

Watch the event

ChatGPT: Opportunities and Challenges for the Nuclear Agenda

CNS Graduate Research Assistant and MIIS MA student in the Nonproliferation and Terrorism Studies program, Yanliang Pan, recently authored a timely article on the opportunities and challenges of artificial intelligence (AI) in the nuclear space.

Yanliang explains how the AI tool may help to develop natural language processing (NPL) tools for the optimization of nuclear facility operation and maintenance and how, if done correctly, the improvement in economics and safety could be enormous. Just as AI instruments can be used to advance the nuclear agenda, they also present risks that cannot be ignored. ChatGPT’s potential to enhance the capabilities of malign cyber actors represents a serious danger to nuclear security. Yanliang discusses the importance of developing fact-checking techniques to counter misinformation, disinformation, and to bolster the integrity of research and analysis in the nuclear field.

U.S. Hosts Regional Maritime Sanctions Enforcement Workshop

February 28 – March 2, 2023, CNS and partner organization VERTIC, with the support of the U.S. Department of State, delivered a workshop for customs, coast guard, and legal officials from the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Taiwan to strengthen regional capacity to enforce maritime sanctions.

The three-day workshop was led by Paulina Izewicz, Project Director for Maritime and Sanctions Compliance, and Cameron Henderson, Research Associate based at CNS’ Washington, DC office and trained participants on the impact of sanctions on key stakeholders; sanctions evasion tactics; investigative tools and techniques, and best practices in sanctions enforcement. It also included tabletop exercises during which participants applied their newly acquired skills in investigating and preventing sanctions evasion. Workshop activities included a visit to the Philippine National Coast Watch Center for a briefing on the center’s functions and its best practices in countering maritime threats.

Understanding States’ Experiences in Safeguards

On March 2, 2023, the VCDNP held a launch event for the new study, entitled “Understanding States’ Experiences in Safeguards: Challenges to and Opportunities for Entry into Force and Implementation”. The report is the result of a VCDNP and VERTIC project that aimed to provide actionable Member State‑driven recommendations for the IAEA.

VCDNP Research Associate Noah Mayhew presented the findings of the project at the launch event and noted that the goal of the project was to bridge the gap between the struggle Member States experience with safeguards entry into force and implementation and the primary objective of the global nonproliferation regime to universalize the safeguards legal framework. Member States expressed challenges related to technical and human capacity, awareness about safeguards instruments, and nuclear matters in general. Recommendations for the final report were divided into five themes: Peaceful Uses, Nonproliferation, Leveraging, Awareness, and Capacity.