WHAT ARE THE PROSPECTS FOR NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT
CPG side event at the NPT Preparatory Committee meeting, Vienna, August 10, 2023
Outline of CPG Side Event 10Aug2023
“After Ukraine – What are the prospects for nuclear disarmament?”
Presentation by Paul Meyer
“This rusting out of the machinery of arms control and disarmament has gone on largely unnoticed by politicians and publics alike. It is only with the revival of what is somewhat euphemistically referred to as “great power rivalry” and which more accurately is the unleashing of aggressive war and the acceleration of the arms race that the world is beginning to pay attention. President Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, a blatant violation of the UN Charter, that Russia as a Permanent Member of the Security Council is obliged to uphold has shaken the international community. Furthermore, Putin’s recourse to threats of nuclear weapons use, explicit or implicit, has once again highlighted the role of these weapons as instruments of coercion and intimidation.”
Read the full presentation here: AfterUkraineWhitherNucDisAug2023
The recorded presentation can be viewed: here
Meyer’s ten specific actions that would be worth pursuing:
1. Build on the common adherence to the NPT to construct bridges between the camps
supporting and opposing the TPNW, including encouraging attendance as observers
to TPNW meetings of state parties.
2. Continue to press for NPT reform that will enhance transparency and accountability
process with respect to Article VI obligations – common reporting templates and
dedicated time for discussion of national reports. The lack of an agreed outcome to
the working group that met in the week prior to the PrepCom should not deter
states from insisting on reform measures – resorting to voting on these procedural
steps if necessary.
3. Promote adoption of “No First Use” doctrines in keeping with existing commitments
within the NPT to reduce the saliency of nuclear weapons in national security
policies.
4. Amplify the declaration issued by the G20 in November 2022 to the effect that any
threat or use of nuclear weapons is “inadmissible”
5. Advocate for de-alerting and related steps which insert a fire break for nuclear use.
6. Urge states to ban all cyber operations directed against nuclear weapon complexes.
7. Press the NWS not to employ AI in the control systems for their nuclear forces in a
manner than supplants human control and responsibility.
8. Call upon the participants in the NWS/P5 process to conduct serious negotiations on
nuclear risk reduction and nuclear arms control in keeping with their NPT
obligations.
9. Support the initiation of negotiations on a Fissile Material Treaty via a UN General
Assembly authorized process as opposed to the dysfunctional CD.
10. Call for the resumption of bilateral talks between Russia and the US to conclude a
follow-up agreement to New START prior to its expiration in February 2026