FRAMEWORK FORUM ROUNDTABLE: REVIVING NUCLEAR THREAT REDUCTION AND DISARMAMENT
Framework Forum Roundtable: Reviving nuclear threat-reduction and disarmament through the NPT, Conference on Disarmament and UN High-Level Conference on Nuclear Disarmament Thursday April 19, 13:15 – 17:00 Geneva Centre for Security Policy Maison de la Paix, Chemin Eugène-Rigot 2D, Geneva Co-sponsored by the Basel Peace Office, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Geneva Centre for Security Policy, Middle Powers Initiative, Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament and World Future Council
EU, US and the FUTURE OF THE IRAN NUCLEAR DEAL
The EU faces a US ultimatum by May 12 to either fix the Iran deal or the US will exit the deal. The decision will be a test not only of the EU´s strategic autonomy but also its Global Strategy. In the article NO EU, NO IRAN DEAL: The EU´s Choice Between Multilateralism and the Transatlantic Link I trace the EU –US relations during the 12 years of negotiations leading to this conflict during the implementation (see table 1 for policy differences). The EU is committed to a multilateral rule-based system and the transatlantic relations as the basis of its [...]
Tarja Cronberg and Sico van der Meer joint publication on Towards A Successful Non-Proliferation Treaty 2020 Conference
One of the most successful international treaties, the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), is under pressure. Tensions between groups of member states led to the failure of its Review Conference in 2015. Without efforts to ease these tensions, there is a serious risk that the next Review Conference in 2020 will be faced with a similar failure which could eventually lead to an erosion of the support for the treaty. This Policy Brief emphasizes the urgency of action to prevent a slow collapse of what is often called ‘the cornerstone of multilateral arms control’ and offers some options for the NPT member [...]
Douglas Roche: What the UN’s next secretary general must do to succeed, and how Canada can help
The United Nations’ new secretary general, Antonio Guterres, who will take office Jan. 1, has pinpointed his top goal: “a surge in diplomacy for peace.” With the crucible of Aleppo revealing ruptures in the international order, Guterres faces a huge challenge: can he stand up to the United States and Russia, as an earlier secretary general, U Thant, did in the Cuban missile crisis, and make the UN a decisive instrument for peace? The ramifications for Canada are enormous. Guterres, a former prime minister of Portugal and most latterly the head of the UN refugee agency, doesn’t have an army [...]
Hon. Tarja Cronberg to Lead MPI
The Middle Powers Initiative (MPI) is extremely pleased to announce Hon. Tarja Cronberg as its new Chair, effective immediately. Dr. Cronberg has held numerous senior positions in the Finnish government and the European Parliament, where she chaired the delegation for relations with Iran. Dr. Cronberg has also served as Finland's Minister of Labor and as Special Advisor on Nuclear Disarmament for the Finnish Institute for International Affairs. She is also a Co-President of the network of Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament. In the European Parliament, Dr. Cronberg was a member of the Committees for Foreign Affairs and Security and [...]
The Berlin Framework Forum
Creating the Conditions and Building the Framework for a Nuclear Weapons-Free World was the title of the Berlin Framework Forum, a new initiative designed to help implement the decisions of the 2010 NPT Review Conference leading to the elimination of nuclear weapons. 26 governments, 12 parliamentarians (from Germany as well as other states), the United Nations and some of the preeminent research institutions in the field took part in the February 20-22 event. The conference was presided over by Dr. Tadatoshi Akiba, in his first public function as the Chairman of MPI, and by Ambassador Rolf Nikel, Commissioner of the [...]
Tadatoshi Akiba to Take Up Duties as MPI Chairman in October
The former Mayor of Hiroshima, Tadatoshi Akiba, who recently was named Chairman of the Middle Powers Initiative, will take up his duties in October 2012. His first major task is to plan the next meeting of the MPI Framework Forum, which will be held in Berlin in early 2013. As President of Mayors for Peace, Professor Akiba developed a network of 5,300 mayors in 153 countries and regions who united in calling for negotiations to start on a nuclear weapons convention. He was Mayor of Hiroshima from 1999 until 2011. He started his professional career as a mathematics professor in New York before [...]