[Expert panel] Reflecting on 10th Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)

Join us for an expert panel discussion to go over the results of the 10^th Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) just a month after its conclusion. In a panel moderated by Extraordinary Professor of International Arms Control Thilo Marauhn, experts from the diplomatic community, the NGO sector and the Dutch Ministry for Foreign Affairs will discuss the changing global order, the humanitarian turn in nuclear disarmament, the key gains and failures of the review conference, as well as what this means for the future of nuclear arms control.

A rapidly changing nuclear weapons landscape
In August, hundreds of diplomats and civil society representatives are convening at the UN Headquarters in New York to discuss the future of nuclear arms control. At the opening of the 10^th Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), the UN secretary general, Antonio Guterres, warned that the world faced ‘a nuclear danger not seen since the height of the cold war’. Recent developments have placed the global non-proliferation regime under threat. Russian President Vladimir Putin has threatened to use nuclear weapons if NATO members intervene militarily in the Ukraine Conflict. The United States and Russia have discontinued bilateral talks on their nuclear programmes. Meanwhile, China and North Korea are increasing their nuclear arsenals. Moreover, Iran has acquired sufficient unenriched uranium for a nuclear weapon, while action to revive the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action has stalled.

10^th Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)
Against this backdrop, the 10^th NPT review conference provides a crucial opportunity to stabilize the existing global nuclear order. Despite the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons entering info force last year, the NPT remains the cornerstone of the nuclear disarmament regime. The 191 NPT states parties gather every five years to review the treaty’s operation and state party compliance with their non-proliferation and disarmament obligations. However, experts argue that the whole NPT regime is at risk, given the states parties at the last review conference in 2015 was unable to agree upon a final declaration and nuclear threats are increasing.

Expert panel discussion: Reflecting on the outcomes of the 10^th NPT Review Conference
The expert panel is a segment of the doctoral school on arms control that is open to a wider audience and we encourage all those interested in nuclear non-proliferation or arms control to attend this panel discussion, from seasoned diplomats to masters students.

Moderator: Thilo Marauhn - Extraordinary Professor of International Arms Control – Asser Institute

Panellists:

• Dr. Rebecca E. Johnson -  Director of the Acronym Inst. for Disarmament Diplomacy (AIDD),
• Ana de Velde Harsenhorst - Senior Policy Advisor at the Security Policy Department of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands
• Ambassador Elayne Whyte Gomez- Ambassador to UN 2014-2022 

About the speakers:
Dr. Rebecca Eleanor Johnson
Dr. Rebecca E. Johnson is Director of the Acronym Inst. for Disarmament Diplomacy (AIDD), which she set up in Geneva in 1994 to monitor the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) negotiations, Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and various disarmament-related issues, publishing reporting and analyses through AIDD’s journal Disarmament Diplomacy (1996 – 2009).  Her Ph.D from London University on the CTBT and multilateral disarmament negotiations (LSE 2004), led to rethinking disarmament and security strategies. She strategised with the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), and became ICAN’s first president after establishing its Geneva-based HQ to broaden humanitarian disarmament, governmental and civil society engagement, leading to the 2017 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), for which ICAN was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017.

Dr Johnson's publications include: ‘Unfinished Business’ on the CTBT (UNIDIR 2009), and numerous book chapters on nuclear issues, NPT and TPNW processes, the UN and civil society, feminist-humanitarian security and treaty developments. She provides contemporaneous analysis on security issues for international and social media, including AP, IDN InterPress, The Guardian, BBC, Sky, Al Jazeera etc and online platforms such as OpenDemocracy.  She features in various films and documentaries about nuclear weapons and 1980s peace campaigning.

Ana de Velde Harsenhorst
Ana de Velde Harsenhorst is a Senior Policy Advisor at the Security Policy Department of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, working on nuclear disarmament, non-proliferation and peaceful uses.

Ambassador Elayne Whyte Gomez
Ambassador Elayne Whyte Gomez is the Permanent Representative of Costa Rica to the United Nations in Geneva. She was also President of the Nuclear Ban Treaty Conference, the UN Conference that negotiated a legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons.

Critical knowledge for contemporary diplomacy: Advance your knowledge on the impact of Weapons of Mass Destruction
The challenges posed to international security by nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons have recently reached levels of urgency not seen since the Cold War. There is an increasing demand for professionals in the field of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) to tackle the challenges of today’s non-proliferation and disarmament agenda with a more integrated understanding of these issues. From 19 to 23 September, the Asser Institute in The Hague will host the thirteenth training programme on disarmament and non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, co-organised with the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). Register now.