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The Canadian Network to Abolish Nuclear Weapons | Le Réseau canadien pour l’abolition des armes nucléaires

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Statement: “Nuclear Disarmament in Times of Unprecedented Risk”

November 22, 2024

 

Five Recommendations Arising From the Roundtable

On October 24, 2024, Canada’s four leading nuclear disarmament organizations—the Canadian Pugwash Group, the Canadian Network to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, Canadians for a Nuclear Weapons Convention, and Project Ploughshares—convened an expert Roundtable on “Nuclear Disarmament in Times of Unprecedented Risk.” This was held in response to rapidly escalating nuclear threats. The convening organizations share the profound conviction that Canada must urgently reassert its voice and leadership in the global disarmament arena.
 
The gravity of today’s nuclear threats, underscored by the heightened possibility of nuclear weapons’ use, demands that Canada act with bold urgency. In our Report, we call on the Government of Canada to reaffirm its role as a constructive middle power by embracing these recommendations. By doing so, Canada can strengthen its legacy of peacebuilding and advance the imperative of nuclear disarmament in times of unprecedented risk.  Read the report here: ND4 Report to GoC 2024

“Nuclear Threats and Canada’s Disarmament Diplomacy”

September 18, 2023

Paul Meyer, CIPS/CNWC event, University of Ottawa, November 28, 2022

Paul Meyer speaks at the event


“Nuclear weapons and the existential threat they pose to humanity have assumed a new and disturbing saliency in the last few months. Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, accompanied as it is by persistent nuclear “sabre-rattling” and the blatant use of these weapons as instruments of intimidation and coercion has rudely reminded global society that huge arsenals of these weapons of mass destruction remain. But it could be worse.”

Continue reading here: NuclearThreats and Cdn Diplomacy
Video of event: https://youtu.be/1aFwviz27MY

Peter Langille: The future requires far deeper cooperation, sustainable common security

September 18, 2023

Insecurity is spreading. Another hot war in the Ukraine, a climate emergency, another Cold War and nuclear arms race, another long war just announced, 100 million people displaced by conflict and climate change, vast inequality and precarious conditions everywhere. Our new global neighbourhood looks rough and risky.

Whatever happened to security, “the state of being free from danger or threat”?

Full Article: Langille_Time4SecuritySolutions

Building security without nuclear weapons

November 12, 2022

Strong arguments are being made to rid the world of the risk posed by reliance on nuclear deterrence. We should adopt a mutual security policy based on sustainable common security principles.

The Palme Commission in 1982 proposed the concept of Common Security: “All states, even the most powerful, are dependent in the end upon the good sense and restraint of other nations.  Even ideological and political opponents have a shared interest in survival.  In the long run, no nation can base its security on the insecurity of others.  True security requires a cooperative effort, a partnership in the struggle against war.”

What are some “tools” of common security?

  • local-global democracy
  • human rights
  • social justice
  • economic development
  • environmental security
  • peaceful measures
  • “non-offensive” defence (NOD)

What are “Confidence and Security Building Measures” (CSBM)?

States wanting to improve their security can develop techniques of gradually developing confidence between themselves and states they perceive as threats.  During the Cold War,  the NATO and Warsaw Pact states agreed through the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) to participate in:

  • Annual mutual exchanges of military information
  • Consultation and cooperation re: unusual military activities
  • Cooperation re: hazardous incidents
  • Voluntary hosting of visits to dispel concerns about military activities
  • Visits to bases, academies, language facilities, conferences, sporting, cultural events
  • Joint military exercises and training
  • Mutual provision of experts
  • Prior notification of certain military activities
  • Observation of certain military activities
  • Sharing annual calendars of military activities
  • Communications (CSCE Communications Network)
  • Annual Implementation Assessment Meeting

Are there other security building processes?

  • Creation of Nuclear Weapons Free Zones (NWFZs)  See the Opanal website and the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs website on NWFZs
  • Use of Preventive Diplomacy to avert violent conflicts
  • Reference of inter-state disputes to the International Court of Justice
  • Maintain peace in pre- or post-conflict regions through use of UN peacekeepers
  • The International Criminal Court enables prosecution of international criminals in cases of war crimes where their own country does not act, or where national prosecution is not believed to be fair and credible.
  • Intrusive inspection measures such as “Open Skies”: The “Open Skies” Treaty of 1992 allows states parties to conduct observation flights over each other’s territories and provides warning of surprise attack, reduces misperceptions and thereby promotes mutual confidence.
  • Conversion of industry and transfer of priorities; creation of new jobs in public infrastructure, climate sustainability sectors

Scholars, Studies and Reports proposing alternative security options:

 

Ceasefire: Time for Canada to get serious about rethinking security

May 2, 2021

“In the view of Ceasefire.ca:

Once the pandemic is fully under control, it is essential that the government start to meaningfully engage in the global examination of what security means going forward.

We are not suggesting an integrated review like the UK has just completed, not least because of the drastically reduced capacity of Global Affairs in comparison to National Defence and our national security apparatus.

But a good starting point would be the launching of a Commission on Rethinking Security, to hear expert and other views (both within and without Canada), but also to undertake relevant studies and reports, to take account of, and contribute to, the burgeoning analyses in this area.

We call upon the Government of Canada to begin to prepare for the launch, as soon as the pandemic is fully under control, of a Canadian Commission on Rethinking Security to promote peace, human well-being and environmental sustainability”

Ceasefire Blog post

 

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