Arms Control and Disarmament – Challenges and Opportunities for the European Union

INVITATION

The International Institute for Peace (IIP), in collaboration with ENTER, COST, the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna, and the University of Vienna, cordially invite you to the panel discussion:

Arms Control and Disarmament – Challenges and Opportunities for the European Union

Date:                                   Wednesday, February 26^th, 2020

Time:                                  18:00                  

Venue:                                International Institute for Peace (IIP), Möllwaldplatz 5 / 2. Floor, 1040 Wien

Moderation:

·       MARYLIA HUSHCHA, research assistant at the IIP

Panelists:

·       HEINZ GÄRTNER, Member of the Advisory Board, IIP; lecturer at the University of Vienna

·       ANGELA KANE, Vice-President of the IIP; former UN Representative of Disarmament Affairs

·       CARLA PORTELA, Senior Associate Analyst, European Institute for Security Studies

·       RAMSES A. WESSEL, Professor and Head of the European Law Department, University of Groningen

Content:
This panel discussion will discuss significant arms control and disarmament issues today.

The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, which was signed by the United States and the Soviet Union in 1987, required both countries to destroy their stocks of ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with a range between 500 and 5,500 km.

However, the INF Treaty collapsed in 2019 after the United States withdrew. The New START-Treaty of 2011, which limits the number of US and Russian nuclear warheads on intercontinental ballistic missiles to 1,550, is on the verge of expiring if it is not extended by 2021.

The conclusion of the Joint and Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) between Iran and P5+1 in 2015 was a masterpiece of effective multilateralism. Since American President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the agreement in 2018, the likelihood of military conflict in the Persian Gulf region has increased drastically.

The initiative on a NWFZ in the Middle East did not make much progress, however. Many falsely hoped that the 2015 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons would give the idea new momentum.

Legally binding NSAs raise some other interesting possibilities. At a United Nations Conference in July 2017, 122 state parties voted in favor of a treaty that prohibits all nuclear weapons. However, no nuclear-weapon state nor their allies participated.

The treaty expresses concern about the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of using nuclear weapons and calls for their complete elimination.

There are currently two opposing views on nuclear security: nuclear-weapon states feel more protected with nuclear weapons, while non-nuclear-weapon states think they are more secure because they have none.

In the run-up to the Review Conference of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in April-May, the EU will discuss in several seminars and workshops these and other in many ways controversial issues.

The Discussion will be held in English.

The IIP invites to snacks and drinks after the event!

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