May 14, 2018
On April 23–May 4, 2018, the Preparatory Committee of states parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) met in Geneva. Leaders, researchers, and students from the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies and the Middlebury Institute of International Studies (MIIS) participated in various ways.
CNS staff and graduate research assistants joined Chilean diplomat, Pamela Moraga (center), on the Chilean delegation to the 2018 NPT PrepCom.
CNS Director William Potter served as Advisor to the delegation of Chile at the 2018 NPT PrepCom. Also serving as members of the Chilean delegation were CNS Senior Research Associate Sarah Bidgood and MIIS students Joseph Rogers and Paul Warnke. MIIS students Maggie Rowland and Daria Selezneva participated at the PrepCom as members of the Secretariat.
Dr. Potter was one of three panelists at the April 24 side event on “The Report of the Group of Eminent Persons for Nuclear Disarmament.” The panel featured Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono and PrepCom Chair Adam Bugajski.
VCDNP Senior Fellow Angela Kane, CTBTO Executive Secretary Dr. Lassina Zerbo, and President of Pugwash Ambassador Sergio Duarte.
Ms. Bidgood was a featured participant in the Side Event: “Women in the NPT,” co-organized by Australia, Canada, Sweden, and Netherlands. Also on April 25, Dr. Potter moderated the side event “Bridging the Gap: The CTBT” featuring CTBTO Executive Secretary Lassina Zerbo, VCDNP Senior Fellow Ms. Angela Kane, as well as presentations by Ms. Bidgood and MIIS student Tiara Shaya. Ms. Bidgood was also featured speaker at a side event that day on “The Nexus between the Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty and Article VI of the NPT.”
Tiara Shaya, CNS graduate research assistant, speaks on the CTBT and the Middle East.
Dr. Potter co-chaired a Track 2.5 workshop on “US-Russian Dialogue on the NPT Review Process: Ideas from the Next Generation,” co-organized by Centre Russe D’etudes Politiques and CNS, on April 28, 2018. Participants at the workshop included Ms. Bidgood and MIIS students Adlan Margoev, Summer Gary, Paul Warnke, Joseph Rodgers, Noah Mayhew, Daria Selezneva, and Maggie Rowland.
US and Russian diplomats, senior experts, and young scholars discuss US-Russia relations and the NPT.
Ms. Andrea Berger, CNS Senior Research Associate, gave a presentation at a side event on “NPT addressing North Korea’s nuclear challenge,” co-organized by France, Germany, the Republic of Korea, and the United Kingdom, on April 30, 2018.
CNS graduate research assistants present on the role of the CTBT in nuclear-weapon-free-zones.
On May 3, four MIIS students—Grace Liu, Maggie Rowland, Paul Warnke, and Joseph Rodgers—organized and spoke at a side event on “NWFZs and the CTBT: A Blueprint for Stability on the Korean Peninsula,” co-sponsored by CNS and the CTBTO Youth Group. Also on that penultimate day of the conference, Dr. Potter moderated a side event on “Cooperation between Nuclear Weapon-Free-Zones: History, Challenges, and Recommendations,” which was organized by Kazakhstan.
In the lead-up to the PrepCom, CNS published an updated “NPT Briefing Book 2018,” a reference guide containing a wide selection of documents related to the NPT review process, produced in partnership with the Centre for Science and Security Studies at King’s College London.
Learn more about CNS education, research, and resources on the NPT.
