International Luxembourg Forum Experts from the US, Russia and the EU to Discuss in Washington the Prospects of Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament

The International Luxembourg Forum on Preventing Nuclear Catastrophe will be holding a conference in Washington, D.C., on September 20-21. An impressive list of prominent politicians, leading world experts in arms control, non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, materials and delivery vehicles, including current and former administration advisors, will discuss the prospects of further strategic nuclear arms and tactical nuclear arms reductions, cooperation in the area of anti-ballistic missile defense, results of the 2010 NPT Review Conference, and the status and settling the Iran and North Korea nuclear crises.

The Luxembourg Forum is the largest expert institution of that kind, comprising leading world experts on nuclear non-proliferation and arms control from the USA, Russia and Europe. It was created in 2007 and since then has held similar meetings in Vienna, Moscow, Geneva, and Rome.

The Luxembourg Forum was established to counteract growing threats to the nuclear non-proliferation regime and erosion of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), as well as to promote international peace and security through new approaches and by presenting practical recommendations to decision-makers on nuclear non-proliferation and arms control critical issues.

The president and founder of the Forum, Dr. Moshe Kantor, stressed the importance of such a meeting. “We are on the verge of a chain of events that could potentially change the current world order,” said Kantor. “If Iran is allowed to acquire nuclear weapons it will force other nations in the region to seek nuclear weapons, signal the end of the NPT, allow rogue regimes and terrorist entities to acquire a nuclear deterrent and hold the international community to ransom. These are all extremely grave scenarios.”

The forum will also discuss the recently signed Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty agreed between the U.S. and Russia and how to build on this important accord. High-ranking members of the American administration will further discuss the prospects of nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament from the perspective of the U.S. foreign policy. At the end of the conference a memorandum containing the outcome of the meetings, observations and recommendations will be circulated to heads of leading powers and major international IGOs.

The list of invitees include Rose Gottemoeller, Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of State and former Assistant Secretary for Non-Proliferation and National Security of the U.S. Department of Energy, Sam Nunn, Co-Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Nuclear Threat Initiative, former Chairman of the Armed Services Committee and the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the U.S. Senate;Vladimir Dvorkin, Chairman of the Organizing Committee, International Luxembourg Forum, and former Director of the 4th Major Institute of the Russian Ministry of Defense; Igor Ivanov, Professor of the MGIMO, former Foreign Minister of Russian Federation, Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation; Alexei Arbatov, Head of the Center for International Security of the Institute for World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO), and former Deputy Chairman of the Defense Committee of the State Duma, Federal Assembly in the Russian Parliament.