PUGWASH CONFERENCES ON SCIENCE AND WORLD AFFAIRS
Pugwash Quarterly Report
September 2009
also available as a 156.2 KB pdf
Last May we launched a new series of updates to better inform the international Pugwash community of the ongoing work of the Pugwash secretariat and national groups. These updates are not designed to be comprehensive, but rather to provide a general overview. Please note there have been some meetings/consultations of a sensitive nature that are not mentioned here.
We are moving toward quarterly reports. This current report, however includes information from May – September 2009. With the next report, we will reformat them for posting on the website in a more readable format. This current report is in text format so it can be sent via Pugwash Forum.
These updates are prepared at the request of Pugwash Secretary General Paolo Cotta-Ramusino by Sandra Ionno Butcher, London Pugwash Office. Please send updates on activities to sibutcher@earthlink.net. There is no need to resend information you post to Pugwash Forum. We try to capture the majority of activities, however, if something has inadvertently been omitted, please let us know.
Please note the latest edition of the Pugwash Newsletter is now available online: http://www.pugwash.org/publication/nl/nlv46n1/Newsletter46-1.htm
== 1.0 - OVERVIEW ==
Pugwash has focused efforts to facilitate high-level dialogue in areas of conflict where nuclear weapons are either present or proliferation risks are high. In addition to the following specific activities, members of the Pugwash Executive Committee continue to hold private discussions with decision makers in several countries on these issues.
== 2.0 == INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ==
The working group reports from the April 2009 Hague conference are all available on-line, in addition to other information and photos from the conference. Thanks again to Pugwash Netherlands for making this meeting possible.
http://www.pugwash.org/reports/pic/58/working_group_reports.htm
== 3.0 - NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT ==
3.1 - 12 May 2009. Pugwash Council member Major General Pan Zhenqiang (Retired), in a comprehensive background paper for the ICNND, “Nuclear Weapons in a Changing Security Environment in North East Asia”, provides an in-depth overview of the regional issues. He writes, “nuclear proliferation is the most daunting challenge to the security in the region today. http://www.pugwash.org/reports/nw/Paper_Pan_June09.pdf
3.2 – 26 May 2009. The Pugwash Executive Committee issued a statement about the DPRK nuclear test. The Executive Committee of the Pugwash Council expressed its “concern that another nuclear test has been carried out after a lengthy moratorium. … Without a concerted effort by the entire international community, demonstrating that nuclear weapons do not increase the security of any country, we run the risk that nuclear weapons may one day be used, with horrific consequences.” http://www.pugwash.org/reports/nw/DPRK-Nuclear_Test.htm
3.3 - 31 May 2009. Pugwash President Jayantha Dhanapala issued a statement welcoming progress at the Conference on Disarmament. Dhanapla wrote, “I look forward to further agreements being negotiated on all other items of the CD agenda leading to a world free of weapons of mass destruction and the regulation of conventional weapons to their lowest possible limits.” http://www.pugwash.org/reports/nw/dhanapala_welcomes_progress.htm
3.4 - 1-4 June 2009. Russia. Pugwash President Jayantha Dhanapala traveled to Russia in early June. Russian Pugwash helped to arrange special activities, including a visit to Krasnodar, Moscow, and to the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) in Dubna. The visit was well-planned and included a mix of private and public meetings, sessions with journalists and Russian Student/Young Pugwash. A report by Russian Pugwash on this visit was previously circulated on Pugwash Forum (27 July 2009).
3.5 - 3 June 2009. Jayantha appeared on Russia Today, discussing latest tests by the DPRK. Jayantha said, these tests are “a step in the wrong direction…” and “a major setback”. He said that in the past “economic sanctions…have proved a blunt instrument which only imposes hardship on the poor people…But there is … diplomatic pressure, political pressure that can be brought to bear on the leadership of the DPRK … so that the policy makers change their policy.” Video available here.
3.6 - June. Sweden. Jayantha met with leaders of Swedish Pugwash while attending a SIPRI board of directors meeting in June.
3.7 - Paolo prepared a comprehensive overview on “Disarmament and Non-Proliferation” for the Italian parliament. In this piece, Paolo writes, “Facing the 2010 NPT Review Conference there is the need of strengthening the three pillars of the NPT itself, which are nuclear disarmament, non proliferation and assistance to NPT members in the development of nuclear programs for civilian purposes. Nuclear disarmament should be pursued in a clear way by all nuclear weapon states and monitoring systems should be improved for all the civilian nuclear activities, without adding further discriminations with respect to those that are already present in the NPT itself. The development of nuclear energy should happen in a framework that must guarantee and strengthen security for all and foster a sense of collective responsibility.”
http://www.pugwash.org/reports/nw/disarmament_non-proliferation.htm
An abridged version appeared in the UN Chronicle, UN CHRONICLE, No. 1 & 2, 2009, pp. 15-22. http://www.pugwash.org/reports/nw/Cotta-Ramusino.pdf
3.8 - Pugwash Council member Miguel Marin-Bosch published an article, “A Nuclear Weapons Free World, Is it Achievable,” in the UN Chronicle, No. 1&2, 2009, pp. 10-14. He writes, “After the worst of times, we are perhaps entering the best of times for proponents of nuclear disarmament. At long last, advocates of the elimination of nuclear weapons have reason for some guarded optimism. The road to a nuclear-weapons-free world will be long and bumpy, but those expected to take the initiative seem to have finally decided to lead.” http://www.pugwash.org/reports/nw/Marin-Boschchronicle.pdf
3.9 – Jayantha was interviewed for an IPS story, “Obama to Bolster Nuclear Disarmament at the UN”, 12 August 2009, in which he is quoted as saying “civil society must be heard” at the upcoming UN Summit 24 September.
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=48056
3.10 – London. Paolo, Jeffrey, Sverre Lodgaard, John Finney, and Sandra Butcher met with former UK defence minister Des Browne, who is organizing a new Top-Level group on multilateral disarmament and non-proliferation. The visit ended with Des providing a fascinating private tour of parliament. See www.toplevelgroup.org for more information about this group.
3.11 – 13-14 September 2009. Yaroslavl, Russia. Jayantha gave an address at a meeting on ““The Modern State and Global Security,” with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and a wide array of politicians, academics and journalists.
According to one media report: Jayantha “gave a passionate defense of the world’s ‘bottom billion.’ … he urged the global community to give more consideration to a ‘more human side’ of our security issues, since it seems that we have been paying lip service to global security without “considering the human being.’ … He urged the UN Security Council, which represents the lion’s share of military spending, to work to ‘move from military to human expenditures.’ In a world armed to the teeth yet poor to the bone, it was perhaps the most poignant suggestion of the day.” http://www.russiatoday.com/Politics/2009-09-14/yaroslavl-conference-medvedev-politics.html
== 4.0 - SOUTH ASIA ==
4.1 – India, Pakistan. Pugwash Secretary General Paolo Cotta-Ramusino spent three weeks in India and Pakistan in June 2009, conducting consultations and holding various meetings.
4.2 - Islamabad - June 16-17, Pugwash led a two-day strategic exercise to decipher the key points of consensus among Pakistani politicians, intellectuals, economists, and journalists and to present this to senior US officials and intellectuals in forthcoming meetings in Washington DC, which occurred in October 2009 (and will be covered in the next quarterly report).
4.3 - Paolo led a group of people meeting with the Pakistani Prime Minister, Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani on 15 June 2009. News articles on 15 June report that Gilani says planned Pugwash Track II projects “will greatly help in creating better understanding and remove misperception about Pakistan in the west...The Prime Minister said that early resumption of composite dialogue between Pakistan and India is imperative to address the longstanding issues resulting in tension between the two countries i.e. Kashmir dispute as well as the water dispute. He assured the Pugwash delegation of his government’s sincerity in proceeding with the dialogue process and for maintaining cordial bilateral relations with all its neighbors including India.” http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/11-pm-calls-on-world-to-fulfill-commitments--il--03
Associated Press of Pakistan:
http://www.app.com.pk/en_/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=78998&Itemid=1
Xinhua:
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-06/15/content_11547496.htm
Press Trust of India - http://www.ptinews.com/pti%5Cptisite.nsf/0/25964F5C0A05FDD5652575D70030FC40?
4.4 - On 17 June 2009, the Daily Times of Pakistan editorialized on the meeting, saying: “Speaking at a Pugwash conference in Islamabad on Monday, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani stressed the importance of resuming the dialogue between Pakistan and India ‘to address issues that have for long been the reason for tensions between the two countries’.…What is needed is a new dialogue…The ‘core issue’, as Pakistan’s policy on Kashmir spells out, can be resolved only through peaceful means.” http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009\06\17\story_17-6-2009_pg3_1
== 5.0 - MIDDLE EAST ==
5.1 - June 2009. Pugwash Council member Peter Jones published a piece, “Engaging Iran,” CIPS Policy Brief, No. 5. http://www.sciencessociales.uottawa.ca/cepi-cips/eng/policybriefs.asp#jones_5
5.2 - 26-27 June 2009. Israel. Pugwash co-sponsored an international workshop with Tel Aviv University's Center for Iranian Studies. The meeting focused on regional issues.
5.3 - 27 July 2009. London. A high-level Pugwash Consultation on the Middle East engaged political leaders with experts discussing ways forward on regional issues.
5.4 – Beirut, Palestine, Cairo, etc. Paolo travelled extensively through the region during the summer months, holding a series of private consultations on ways to restart dialogue.
5.5 – Geneva. Paolo spoke at the IISS annual meeting about Iran.
5.6 – 17 September 2009. New York. Paolo, Peter Jones and Jeffrey Boutwell discussed Track II diplomacy at the Carnegie Corporation of New York with Carnegie President Vartan Gregorian and other experts.
== 6.0 - CBW ==
6.1 – Planning is underway for the December CBW workshop.
== 7.0 – SCIENCE AND SOCIETY ==
7.1 - 9 July 2009. Jeffrey Boutwell’s op-ed, “Holdren brings science back to the White House” appeared in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. In the piece, Boutwell writes about an April meeting the current Pugwash leadership held with Holdren, who follows “[I]n a rich tradition of Pugwash-linked presidential science advisers going back to George Kistiakowsky (under President Dwight D. Eisenhower) and Jerome Wiesner (under President John F. Kennedy).” Boutwell wrote, “Holdren expressed great optimism about the positive role that science and technology will play in the Obama administration's policies.” http://www.thebulletin.org/web-edition/op-eds/holdren-brings-science-back-to-the-white-house Photos of the visit are available here: http://www.pugwash.org/reports/nw/dc-visit-april2009/policymakers_photos_april_2009.htm
== 8.0 - HISTORY ==
8.1 - Pugwash, Nova Scotia. The planned restoration of Thinkers’ Lodge is underway. Sandra Ionno Butcher has been serving as an informal consultant on historical matters, and exploring ways the Pugwash History Project can be useful in the restoration process.
8.2 - The Pugwash History Blog has several new postings over the summer, including on Robert McNamara’s involvement in Pugwash, Pugwash and the Cuban Missile Crisis, quotes from Herb York on Pugwash, and more. Please visit: www.pugwashhistoryblogspot.com
8.3 - Cambridge, UK. The first batch of the Collected Papers of Joseph Rotblat and the Pugwash Conferences have been deposited at the Churchill Archives at Cambridge University. Cataloguing is still underway for the remaining materials (including the main bulk of material related to Pugwash).
8.4 - Sandy wrote a background paper entitled “Students and Pugwash” for the ISYP meeting in Pugwash in July.
== 9.0 - NATIONAL GROUPS ==
While this is in no way comprehensive, we would like to congratulate national groups on recent activities. We hope the next update will include a wider selection of national group activities: please send updates to Sandra Butcher (sibutcher@earthlink.net). If your group is organizing major events, please also alert the network via Pugwash forum.
CANADA.
Canadian Pugwash co-sponsored the July ISYP meeting in Pugwash, Nova Scotia (see below). Several Canadian Pugwashites, including Walter Dorn, Adele Buckley, and Alexa McDonough spoke at the annual Pugwash Peace Exchange events and the Dinner for Peace. See www.pugwashpeaceexchange.org
Canadian Pugwashites have been publishing widely on key topics. Please see their website for the latest: http://www.pugwashgroup.ca/
Recent pieces include:
Ramesh Thakur, “Nuclearization' has brought India little of lasting strategic value” Globe and Mail, 7 September 2009.
http://www.pugwashgroup.ca/events/documents/2009/2009.09.09-Folly%20of%20India%27s%20nuclear%20test%20Thakur%20Sep%207%2009.doc
Ernie Regehr, “Africa as a Nuclear Weapons Free Zone,” 31 August 2009.
http://www.pugwashgroup.ca/events/documents/2009/2009.09.08-Africa%20as%20a%20NWFZ%20Au%2031%2009.doc
Doug Roche, “Obama Needs Friends on Nuclear Weapons,” Embassy Magazine, 19 August 2009. http://embassymag.ca/page/printpage/obama_nuclear-8-19-2009
Michael Byers, “Unleashing the human potential in Canada's north”, Globe and Mail, 19 August 2009 http://www.pugwashgroup.ca/events/documents/2009/2009.09.08-Inuvik%20%20Byers%20photo%20deleted%20Aug%2019%2009.doc
Walter Dorn and Peter Langille, “Where are our Peacekeepers,” The Star, 8 August 2009.
http://www.thestar.com/comment/article/678155
Ernie Regehr, “Hiroshima Day: Lose the Nuclear Ambivalence,” 7 August, 2009. http://www.pugwashgroup.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=155:lose-the-nuclear-ambivalence&catid=36:nuclear-disarmament&Itemid=67
Ramesh Thakur, “Ease Their Pain,” Ottawa Citizen, 4 August 2009. http://www.ottawacitizen.com/opinion/Ease+their+pain/1857741/story.html
See also the entry under Danish Pugwash regarding the August Arctic Nuclear-Weapons-Free Zone conference, co-sponsored by Canadian Pugwash.
CROATIA.
A Physics Today article (August 2009) issue, featured Ivo Slaus. The article was written by Paul Guinnessy (former head UK Student Pugwash) and the interview was conducted during last November’s joint UK-Croatian Pugwash NATO Advanced Research Workshop in Zagreb. http://scitation.aip.org/getabs/servlet/GetabsServlet?prog=normal&id=PHTOAD000062000008000019000001&idtype=cvips&gifs=yes
EGYPT.
Egyptian Pugwash and Jordanian Pugwash collaborated with the Arab Institute for Security Studies on a meeting in Amman on “Nuclear Energy and Proliferation in the Middle East,” 22-24 June 2009. The meeting focused on several of the following tracks: Developing an appropriate framework to regulate the spread of nuclear energy facilities within the Middle East (and/or) utilizing other existing international frameworks (e.g. Euratom); The impact of emerging bilateral and multilateral nuclear partnership protocols; The feasibility of establishing a dedicated nuclear fuel production cycle (e.g. an Arab cycle vs. a Mediterranean cycle); Physical security of nuclear facilities, environmental implications. http://www.acsis.org/conferences2.asp
DENMARK.
10-11 August 2009. Copenhagen. A Conference on an Arctic Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone was organized by the Danish and Canadian Pugwash Groups, in collaboration with the Danish Institute for International Studies, PNND, IPPNW and IALANA. It resulted in a set of recommendations for governments with territory in the Arctic region, among which was the recommendation that Canada and Scandinavia should begin immediately to take steps towards an Arctic NWFZ.The conference book can be downloaded: http://www.lulu.com/john189 .
FINLAND.
The Finnish Pugwash committee is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.
A) Nominations
10 May 2009. The Academician Jorma K. Miettinen, the former president of the Finnish Pugwash Committee of 49 years has been now nominated by the Governing Council of the Finnish Pugwash Committee as a honorary president of the Finnish Pugwash Committee.
B) Activities
The Finnish Pugwash Committee has actively conducted its events of presentations and discussion, which have included, inter alia, the following topics, “The present Status of Nuclear Arms Control Negotiations between the Superpowers”; “Changes in the US Policy in Afghanistan and Its Effects”; “Terrorism, Myths, Agendas and Current State of Research”; "The Challenges for the Coming Barack Obama’s Administration in the Areas of Foreign and Security-Policy"; "Is the Finnish Procedure on Drafting the Finnish Security and Foreign Policy –Document Still Working and Up-to Date?”, “Terrorism – New Terrorism and Countering the Terrorism”.
C) Publications
Two members of the Finnish Pugwash discussions, Torsti Sirén and Mika Kerttunen have successfully presented their dissertations in the Faculty of Political Science, University of Helsinki:
Mika Kerttunen, “A Responsible Nuclear Weapons Power” – Nuclear Weapons And Indian Foreign Policy, National Defence University, Department of Strategic and Defence Studies, Series 1, Strategic Research No. 27;
Torsti Sirén, State, Agent, Identity and The New World Order. Reconstructing the Polish Defence Identity after the Cold War Era, National Defence University, Department of Strategic and Defence Studies, Series 1, Strategic Research No. 26
GERMANY.
Foreign Minister Steinmeier launched a new book, "The Future of Conventional Arms Control in Europe" on 9 June 2009 which also was delivered to the delegations of a CFE conference one day later in Berlin. The debate started with the Pugwash Workshop "European Security and Cooperative Approaches to Arms Control" in Potsdam in June 2008. The Future of Conventional Arms Control in Europe, Edited by Wolfgang Zellner, Hans-Joachim Schmidt and Götz Neuneck, 2009, 560 pp., pb., approx. € 69.00,
ISBN 978-3-8329-4786-6. A publication of the Institute for Peace Research
and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg. See http://www.ifsh.de/IFSH_php/akt_news_engl.php for a film of the launch. Please see: http://www.ifsh.de/pdf/publikationen/FLYER_ruestungskontrolle_2009.pdf for ordering information in both German and English.
INDIA.
C. Uday Bhaskar, “Hiroshima Day: Bleak prospects for disarmament”, Reuters, Aug 6, 2009. The opinion piece states, ”Sixty-four years after the apocalyptic destructive potential of the atomic bomb was recognized, it may be posited that the global community is less secure apropos the nuclear domain with every passing day.” http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate-in/2009/08/05/hiroshima-day-bleak-prospects-for-disarmament/
ITALY.
Former Pugwash Secretary General Francesco Calogero spoke at a conference in the University of Manchester (UK), at a special screening of The Strangest Dream. The screening is part of the Robin Bullough Symposium at The University of Manchester, which celebrates the life and work of the late Manchester mathematical physicist, who died last year aged 78. For a short related article see, The University of Manchester, “Anti-nuclear weapons scientist speaks in Manchester”, 3 June 2009: http://www.manchester.ac.uk/aboutus/news/display/?id=4741
The Italian Pugwash Group recently held its annual conference.
JAPAN.
Japan Pugwash and US Pugwash are co-sponsors with other organizations of an event on 15 September, in Washington DC, featuring Tatsujiro Suzuki and his colleagues, “The ‘Asian Mutually-Assured-Dependence (A-MAD) Concept’, A Project of the Japan Collaborative Security Initiative”. See http://a-mad.org/
JORDAN.
See Egyptian Pugwash entry regarding co-sponsored activity.
NORWAY.
Pugwash Council Member Sverre Lodgaard helped to provide a catalyst for an appeal on 4 June 2009 from four former Prime Ministers of Norway, Odvar Nordli (Labour), Gro Harlem Brundtland (Labour), Kåre Willoch (Conservative) and Kjell Magne Bondevik (Christian Democrat) and former Foreign Minister Thorvald Stoltenberg who joined together in an ambitious disarmament initiative, which states in part, "The objective must be a world where not only weapons, but also plants that produce them, are removed".
RUSSIA.
Russian Pugwash hosted Pugwash President Jayantha Dhanapala in June (see above).
On 10 June Russian Pugwash organized a Situating Monitoring Workshop on the Korean Peninsula in Vladivostok (Russian Far East) on June 10.
Russian Pugwash has been making digital copies of M.D. Millionshchikov's color slides from Pugwash Conferences and other international meetings. It is more than one hundred pictures with group and personal pictures of Rotblat, Skobeltsyn, Feld, Artsimovich, Kaplan, Perrin, Cockroft, Peierls, Powell, Kapitza, Amaldi, Emelyanov, Alfven, and others prominent International and Soviet Pugwashites. Mikhail Lebedev hopes these photos might be printed in a book by the Russian Academy of Sciences Publishing House in both Russian and English text next year.
13-14 September 2009. Jayantha Dhanapala attended a meeting organized by Russian Pugwash in Yaraoslavl, Russia.
SPAIN.
2-5 September 2009. The 3rd CICA-STR International Conference on Political Violence and Collective Aggression has been held at the University of Ulster. It has brought together eighty scholars interested on the problems of aggression, violence, and terrorism from quite different scientific disciplines, and representatives not only of the United Kingdom and Ireland, but as well from many other quite different cultures and all the five continents -more than 25 countries all together.
The Conference was opened by Prof. J. Martin Ramirez, Chair of the Spanish National Pugwash Group, with a talk on THE ULSTER PEACE PROCESS AS AN EXPERIENCE OF PEACEBUILDING. The Chair of the Pugwash Council, Prof. Saideh Lotfian gave a keynote speech on "Poppies and Terrorism", a very instructive information about effective policies for conflict de-escalation and resolution in Afghanistan. Another Pugwashite, Natividad Carpintero-Santamaría, professor at the Polytechnic University of Madrid, presented a very interesting communication on "Illicit Trade and its Relationship with International Security"
SWEDEN.
23-24 August 2009. Roger Roffey, member of the Swedish Pugwash Group Board, was invited as speaker on CBMs as transparency measures for biodefence, at the Geneva Forums workshop on Confidence Building Measures for the BTWC in Vevey.
18 September 2009. Stockholm. “Asian Mutually-Assured-Dependence (A-MAD) Concept”: A Proposal for Nuclear Disarmament and Non-Proliferation in Asia. CPAS-Pugwash Workshop 2009, organized in cooperation with the Japanese- & Swedish Pugwash Group. Featuring Prof. Tatsujiro Suzuki, Associate Vice President of the Socio-economic Research Center at Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry (CRIEPI), Tokyo; Visiting Professor at University of Tokyo & Japan Collaborative Security Initiative.
UK.
The Joseph Rotblat Lecture at the Guardian Hay Literary Festival was delivered this year 25 May 2009 by leading British politician and international diplomat Paddy Ashdown, organized by the WMD Awareness Programme and British Pugwash.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/may/25/hay-festival-paddy-ashdown
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2009/05/26/paddy-s-plan-for-better-parliament-cull-mps-and-elect-the-lords-91466-23709456/
26 May 2009. Martin Butcher published a piece on the Guardian Comment is Free website, “A Path to Peace with North Korea”. He wrote, “Our Pugwash discussions in The Hague show that there is a path to peace and security on the Korean peninsula… The prize is worth the effort, and the alternative of a nuclear stand-off with an unstable DPRK does not bear thinking about.” http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/may/26/north-korea-nuclear-test-peace
20 July 2009. A letter from John Finney and Robert Hinde appeared in The Times in response to articles suggesting that the “initial gate” decision on the Trident submarines may be delayed. Finney and Hinde wrote, “there is no technical necessity for an immediate decision on Trident replacement, and this delay will help to set the right atmosphere for 2010.”
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/letters/article6719518.ece
29 July 2009. John Ryan, the author of the children’s books “Captain Pugwash” died 22 July 2009. A letter in The Guardian, mentioned that Ryan sent a 90th birtdhay ard to Joseph Rotblat – a drawing in which the famous “Captain Pugwash” sent Rotblat his greetings. http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2009/jul/29/captain-pugwash-john-ryan
US.
See Japan Pugwash entry above for joint activity.
ISYP
9-11 July 2009. Pugwash, Nova Scotia. On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the first Student Pugwash groups, the board of International Student/Young Pugwash held a meeting: “A Strategy for Student/Young Pugwash: How Students and Young People can Influence the Peace Agenda in the Next Ten Years”. The event was generously co-sponsored by the Pugwash Peace Exchange, Canadian Pugwash, and supported also by the Pugwash Park Commission and International Pugwash. The agenda is available here: http://www.isyp.org/wiki/images/5/51/PPE_Agenda.doc
The ISYP board issued a statement, “Climbing to the Top of the Mountain”, read out by ISYP chair Ben Rusek from the steps of Thinkers’ Lodge, 11 July 2009. Drawing on the inspiration of President Obama’s student writings, the statement concludes, “Today’s economically interdependent world is one that makes the calculus of Cold War nuclear deterrence increasingly inappropriate and the use of nuclear weapons practically unimaginable. It is perhaps in the growing economic, social, and political interdependence of a globalizing world that a new generation of scientists and policy makers can re-affirm their belief in the wisdom of a world with zero nuclear weapons in the context of nonproliferation, total disarmament, and perpetual peace.” http://www.pugwash.org/reports/nw/Climbing_Top_Mountain_Student_Pugwash.htm
UPCOMING AND RECENT EVENTS (to be reported in December Quarterly Report)
29 September 2009. The Rideau Institute, with support and participation from Canadian Pugwash, is holding a one day conference in Ottawa on "Arctic Future Forum : Cooperation or Confrontation". Adele Buckley is one of the speakers. http://www.rideauinstitute.ca/
5 October 2009. British Pugwash/School of Oriental and African Studies, co-sponsors. 3rd Annual Conference on a WMD Free Zone in the Middle East. Speakers include: Jayantha Dhanapala, Wa’el Al-Assad and others.
6 October 2009. London. Private Consultation on Issues Related to the NPT with a Special Focus on the Middle East.
12 October 2009. New York. International Pugwash Workshop on CTBT Entry Into Force, United Nations.
22 October 2009. St. Petersburg, Russia. 2nd Russian Pugwash National Rotblat memorial meeting.
19-23 October 2009. Washington DC. A series of meetings about Pakistan.
6-8 November 2009. Stockholm. There will be a conference on disarmament with several organizations involved, see www.nucleardisarmament.se
Rolf Ekéus, Lars van Dassen, Henning Rodhe, Jan Prawitz and Masako Ikegami from the Swedish Pugwash Group are among the speakers.
12 November 2009. Cambridge, UK. Jayantha Dhanapala will deliver a keynote address about Disarmament and Development at Cambridge University, co-sponsored by UK Pugwash and Cambridge Student Pugwash.
13-14 November 2009. Toronto. Canadian Pugwash and 3 other peace groups are sponsoring a two day event at Council Chamber, Toronto City Hall, Zero Nuclear Weapons Forum. The first day's keynote speakers are noted author Jonathan Schell, His Excellency Mr. Anthony Cary, British High Commissioner to Canada and the Hon. Douglas Roche. Moderator is Alexa McDonough, former leader of the NDP, a Canadian federal party and currently President of Mount St. Vincent University, Halifax, NS. On the second day we have scheduled a Workshop on Arctic Nuclear Weapon Free Zone for a 2 hr period in mid-day. Adele Buckley will speak about the future Arctic climate and its link to a NWFWZ.
20-21 November 2009. Beijing. International Pugwash Workshop. Strengthening the International Nuclear Non-Proliferation Regime: Ensuring a Successful NPT Review Conference in 2010, A Joint Conference of the Institute of Applied Physics and Computational Mathematics, Chinese Peoples’ Association for Peace and Disarmament, Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs.
1 December 2009. UK Pugwash is co-sponsoring an event at the Royal Society at which Jayantha Dhanapala will deliver the keynote address, and Baroness Shirley Williams will serve as chair.
4-6 December 2009. International Pugwash CBW Workshop.
10-17 January 2010. Andalo, Italy. 23rd Isodarco Winter Course: The Road to Nuclear Zero and Arms Control.
Early 2010. Rome. Pugwash Executive Committee Meeting (tbd)
Sandra Ionno Butcher
Pugwash Conferences on Science & World Affairs
London Office
*Mobile: 44 (0) 7920 747 560
