International Luxembourg Forum Experts to Discuss Pressing Issues of Nuclear Disarmament and Counteracting International Terrorism
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The International Luxembourg Forum on Preventing Nuclear Catastrophe will hold a conference billed as “Reykjavik: 30 Years Later – Lessons of the Past and Future Goals” on June 7-8, 2016, in Amsterdam.
The conference will focus on pressing issues of nuclear disarmament and nuclear arms proliferation as well as a retrospective view on the historic meeting of the leaders of two major nuclear powers in the capital of Iceland.
The conference will discuss critical issues of nuclear security, nuclear arms proliferation, disarmament and counteracting nuclear terrorism. In particular, the experts will bring up the issue of resuming negotiations on further strategic arms reduction and cooperation with regard to measures ensuring security of mass destruction weapons.
According to the International Luxembourg Forum President Viatcheslav Kantor, the current situation in the sphere of nuclear arms control is unprecedented even for the Cold War period, let alone the subsequent years. “Today, there is only one effective treaty – the New START, which entered into force in 2011. The Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles with indefinite term suffers significant bangs if not blows from both sides. And that’s everything we have. Even during the Cold War, as well as in recent history, immediately after signing a strategic arms reduction treaty, the United States and the USSR/Russia proceeded to consultations and negotiations on the next treaty. However, today this vital process is interrupted. This immanently increases the risk of inadvertent or provoked use of nuclear weapons with unpredictable escalation in various regions of the world,” Viatcheslav Kantor believes.
The conference will focus on specific steps to eliminate the risk of missile launch by accident or mistake and to increase response time. It is expected that participants will also address the issue of nuclear terrorism.
As usual, a final document prepared based on the conference results and setting forth key conclusions and recommendations will be circulated to heads of state, officials and heads of leading international organizations.
It is expected that the conference will be attended by:
- Viatcheslav Kantor, President of the International Luxembourg Forum on Preventing Nuclear Catastrophe
- Vladimir Dvorkin, Chairman of the International Luxembourg Forum Organizing Committee; Principal Researcher at Primakov Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO) of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS); former Director of the 4th Central Scientific-Research Institute of the Ministry of Defense; Major General, ret.
- Des Browne,Vice Chairman and member of the Board of Directors of the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI); member of the International Luxembourg Forum Supervisory Board; founder and member of the Top Level Group of Parliamentarians for Nuclear Disarmament and Non-Proliferation; former UK Secretary of State for Defence
- William Perry, Professor at Stanford University; member of the International Luxembourg Forum Supervisory Board; former Secretary of the U.S. Department of Defense
- Vladimir Lukin,member of the International Luxembourg Forum Supervisory Board; Professor at the National Research University – Higher School of Economics; former Commissioner on Human Rights for the Russian Federation; Chairman of the Committee on International Relations and Deputy Chairman of the Russian State Duma; Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the United States
- Alexey Arbatov, Deputy Chairman of the International Luxembourg Forum Organizing Committee; member of NTI Board of Directors; Head of the RAS IMEMO Center for International Security; RAS Academician
- Viktor Esin, Leading Researcher at the RAS Institute for U.S. and Canadian Studies; former Chief of Armed Service Staff – First Deputy Commander-In-Chief of Strategic Rocket Forces; Colonel General, ret.
- James D. Cartwright, Harold Brown Chair in Defense Policy Studies at the U.S. Center for Strategic and International Studies; former Commander of the U.S. Strategic Command and Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; United States Marine Corps General ret.
- Anatoly Adamishin, President of the Association for Euro-Atlantic Cooperation; USSR| Russian Federation Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary; former USSR Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Russian Federation Minister for Cooperation with CIS countries (Russia)
- Leon Ratz, Senior Advisor for Material Security and Minimization at NTI (USA)
- Yury Nazarkin, Professor at Geneva School of Diplomacy and International Relations; USSR/Russian Federation Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary; former USSR Representative at the Conference on Disarmament; Head of the USSR delegation at the USSR-US Nuclear and Space Talks (START-1), Deputy Secretary of the Russian Security Council
- Tariq Rauf, Director of Disarmament, Arms Control and Non-Proliferation Programme at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI); former Head of Verification and Security Policy Cooperation Office at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Ph.D. (Canada)
and other experts in nuclear disarmament and nuclear security.