PUGWASH CONFERENCES ON SCIENCE AND WORLD AFFAIRS
News and Activities
as of 1 September 2010
also available as a 391.3 KB pdf
1.0 - OVERVIEW
Pugwash continues to focus 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. The Secretary General Paolo Cotta-Ramusino makes frequent visits to the Middle East, South Asia, the USA and European capitals to consult with key policy makers on related issues, laying the groundwork and following up on the various activities listed below. The May 2010 NPT Review Conference was an area of intense recent focus for Pugwash President Jayantha Dhanapala, Paolo, and other Pugwashites (see below).
2.0 NEWS FROM THE SECRETARIAT
As of August, Jeffrey Boutwell will reduce his time commitment to the organization and move into a volunteer capacity. The entire Pugwash network joins us in thanking him for his excellent contributions and we look forward to continuing to benefit from his insights and experience. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Jeffrey for his nearly 30 years of work for the organization in various capacities, first while with the <American> <Academy> of Arts and Sciences from 1982 to 1997, then as executive director until July 2010, during which time he established the <<Washington> <DC>> office in 2002. As editor of the Pugwash publications and website, he has significantly upgraded the layout and design of the organization’s materials. He played a lead role in organizing the large international conferences – most especially the 2002 conference at UC San Diego in <La Jolla>, <California> - and he took a special interest in developing some groundbreaking meetings on <<Cuba>>, on AIDS and on African security. He has been intimately involved in all aspects of the organization, including financial management and helping to secure funds from a variety of sources. As an ex-officio member of the Pugwash Council and Executive Committee, Jeffrey has helped to draft and shape most of the organization’s statements in recent years. In addition, he has been the main contact for the 50 national groups and the International Student/Young Pugwash network. Pugwash will formally honor Jeffrey at the upcoming general Pugwash Conference.
In December 2009, Pugwash and British Pugwash thanked Sally Milne as she left after six years of work in the London office, including as Joseph Rotblat’s friend and colleague during his final years. We all wish Sally and her family well.
Sandra Ionno Butcher came on board full-time for the International Pugwash secretariat in the capacity of Senior Program Coordinator as of 1 January 2010. She is based out of London.
Stefanie Franovic served as Financial Management Intern during summer 2010, also based out of London.
Pugwash wishes Tatsujiro Suzuki well in his new position as member of the Japan Atomic Energy Commission. Tatsu had to resign from his position on the Pugwash Council when he assumed his new role at JAEC.
Pugwash appreciates the support it receives from the many foundations and governments who make our activities possible, both on the international and national levels. In addition to the many local partners who make possible specific events around the world, we would like to thank our recent supporters, including: the Carnegie Corporation, the Connect US Fund, Ford Foundation (Beijing), Frederich-Ebert Stiftung (Moscow), Heathside Charitable Trust, ML Resources Social Vision, the Norwegian MFA, the Ploughshares Fund, Soka Gakkai International, the UK FCO, US Institute of Peace, VERTIC. We also appreciate the generous contributions we receive from national Pugwash groups.
3.0 – PUGWASH MEETINGS AND PUBLICATIONS
2-3 July 2010. Beit Oren, Israel. Pugwash Workshop on Middle Eastern Security and WMD in the Middle East, co-sponsored with the Israeli Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Tel Aviv University's Center for Iranian Studies and Israeli Pugwash, this meeting engaged approximately 30 current and former policy makers and experts in dialogue on regional security issues and weapons of mass destruction. Report is forthcoming.
6 June 2010. Peshawar, Pakistan. Informal consultation on future security architecture in Afghanistan.
2-5 June 2010. Islamabad. Pugwash convened the first of a planned series of meetings of a new bilateral Pugwash India-Pakistan Independent Commission (PIPIC) to discuss ways to promote greater security for both countries through increased cooperation in several key areas. The 21 participants from India and Pakistan included prominent current and former policy makers, diplomats, military and intelligence experts, and media analysts, who brought to the table a wide range of experience and insights. Participants were hosted by the UK High Commissioner Adam Thomson for a special reception and dinner. Funding was provided by the US Institute of Peace and by Vertic Report available here.
15 May 2010. New York City. Pugwash NPT Consultation on Nuclear Weapons and WMD in the Middle East. On 15 May 2010, Pugwash convened a private consultation in New York City, involving 16 current and former diplomats, UN officials and leading NGO experts from 10 countries for a general exchange of views on issues related to the current NPT Review Conference and options for promoting progress on the 1995 Middle East resolution. Report available here.
8 May 2010. New York City. Pugwash Consultation on the NPT. Pugwash convened a private consultation involving 20 current and former diplomats, UN officials and leading NGO experts from 15 countries for a general exchange of views on issues related to the current Review Conference. Report available here.
May 2010. Pugwash Proposal at the NPT Review Conference on the Concept of a Middle East WMD-Free Zone. This and related activities helped to influence the Final Document.
May 2010. Pugwash published a briefing book for delegates at the NPT Review Conference, “Perspectives for Progress: The 2010 NPT Review Conference and Beyond, May 2010.” This briefing book includes short, action-oriented contributions from many Pugwashites from around the world. This 117 page booklet is available online here.
30 April 2010: Ramallah (Palestine), Informal Consultation on Inter-Palestinian Reconciliation.
24 - 28 April 2010. Moscow. Pugwash facilitated a delegation of former senior European ministers (led by the Rt. Hon. Des Browne) who visited Moscow to discuss European Security, the New START treaty, and other timely issues with Russian policy makers and experts. This project on “New Nuclear Reality” was organized by the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs, Russian Pugwash Committee, Center for Euro-Atlantic Security of the MGIMO University, Russian Political Science Association, and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Russia. We also would like to acknowledge the support of Connect US and the Ploughshares Fund who made this and related work possible. Report is available here. A related Think Progress blog post, “Allies Want Nukes Out,” is here.
March 2010. Jayantha Dhanapala, “Planning for the 2010 NPT Review Conference: A Practitioner’s Overview,” Pugwash Issue Brief.
March 2010. Pugwash published the “Composite Report of Pugwash Consultations on Pakistan, June – October 2009.” The report was drafted by Moeed Yusuf, Sandra Butcher, and Paolo Cotta Ramusino. It summarizes the findings of a series of consultations in Pakistan and Washington, DC, designed to increase understanding between the two countries on issues central to their ongoing relationship. The report is available here.
1-4 March 2010, Washington, DC. Pugwash facilitated a delegation of former senior European ministers, led by Des Browne MP, to discuss European attitudes to nuclear arms and disarmament policy with the Obama administration and key experts. Report is available here. A report that appeared in the New Atlanticist blog is available here.
29 January 2010. Pugwash releases the "Milan Document on Nuclear Disarmament and Non-Proliferation" issued following the Pugwash NPT Roundtable Discussion in Milan. This document highlighted specific points relevant to progress at the May 2010 NPT Review Conference. It is also available in Arabic and Farsi. The Milan meeting engaged senior current and former policy makers from around the world in discussion of issues related to the NPT Review Conference.
13 January 2010. House of Commons, London. Roundtable on Nuclear Weapons Policies and the NATO Strategic Concept Review, co-hosted by Des Browne, convener of the Top Level Group, and Paolo Cotta-Ramusino, Secretary General of the Pugwash Conferences. Strong concerns were raised that the process of consultation on the NATO Strategic Concept Review is not providing opportunity for adequate political and public input. Report available here. The report was mentioned in an influential UK blog, Left Foot Forward.
4-6 December 2009. Geneva, Switzerland. 30th Workshop of the Pugwash Study Group on the Implementation of the Chemical and Biological Weapons Conventions: Preparing for the Seventh BWC Review Conference. Organized with the Association Suisse de Pugwash (ASP) and the Geneva International Peace Research Institute (GIPRI), with the continuing support of the Swiss Federal Government. Report is available here.
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. Report is available here.
19-23 October 2009. Washington DC. Pugwash organized a high-level series of meetings for a delegation of senior Pakistanis to meet with the Obama Administration, Congress, leading experts, and media. This series of consultations took place at a critical time, following the controversy over the recent Kerry-Lugar legislation and just prior to a trip to Pakistan by Secretary Clinton. This was supported in part by ML Resources Social Vision and the Ploughshares Fund. Information available here.
12 October 2009. New York. Pugwash Consultation on CTBT Entry Into Force, with a special focus on engaging Annex 2 countries. Report is available here.
6 October 2009. London. Private Consultation on Issues Related to the NPT with a Special Focus on the Middle East, hosted by Rt. Hon. Des Browne MP in the Houses of Parliament, this meeting involved approximately 30 leading current and former policy makers and experts.
FOCUS IRAN:
17-18 April 2010. Tehran, Iran. Several Pugwashites (including Secretary General Paolo Cotta-Ramusino and chair of the Executive Committee Steven Miller, participated in the meeting organized by the Iranian Government on “Nuclear Energy for all, Nuclear weapons for No one”. During and after the meeting private discussions were held on how to make progress on the issues related to the different evaluations of the Iranian nuclear programs. Paolo chaired one of the break-out groups of the meeting.
4.0 – OTHER ACTIVITIES
6 August 2010. Jayantha Dhanapala and Paolo Cotta-Ramusino issue a statement that commends the addition of the Bikini Atoll Nuclear Test Site as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and urge concrete progress on disarmament on 65th Anniversaries of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Bombings
25 July 2010. Former Pugwash Secretary General Francesco Calogero is quoted in an article in the London paper, The Observer, about ways to conduct risk analysis on scientific research that may have catastrophic impacts. “Global disaster: is humanity prepared for the worst?”
May 2010. Former Pugwash Council Member Venance Journé coordinated and provided analysis for the French translation of the report of the Blix Commission, formally known as The Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission.
Ongoing. The Pugwash website now includes a section featuring the Nuclear Weapons Free World Statements from senior figures, including English translations. Pugwash national groups helped to facilitate many of these statements.
10-11 November 2009. Berlin. Paolo Cotta-Ramusino spoke at the annual summit of Nobel Peace Laureates, and shared a panel with Mikhail Gorbachev and others.
29 October 2009, London. Jayantha Dhanapala and other Pugwashites attended the launch of the new Top-Level Group of UK Parliamentarians for Multilateral Non-proliferation and Disarmament and held meetings with officials from the French Embassy.
5 October 2009. Jayantha Dhanapala and Pugwash Council Member Peter Jones, along with other Pugwashites, participated in the 4th London Conference on a WMD Free Zone in the Middle East, organized by SOAS and the British Pugwash Group. Jayantha delivered a keynote address on “The Middle East and the Quest for a Nuclear Weapons Free World.” The transcript of the event is available here.
22 September 2009. “How to Talk to Iran?” by Paolo Cotta-Ramusino, Secretary General of Pugwash.
5.0 - SPECIAL FOCUS: JAYANTHA DHANAPALA AND THE NPT
22 June 2010. The Interdependent (a publication of UNA/USA) carries a piece by Jayantha Dhanapala, “The NPT Review Conference Ends Successfully.”
June 2010. Jayantha appears on The Agenda, with Steve Paikin (TVO, Ontario), discussing the future of nuclear weapons. Video available.
29 May 2010. Pugwash President Jayantha Dhanapala and Secretary General Paolo Cotta-Ramusino release statement on the conclusion of the 2010 NPT Review Conference.
29 May 2010. Jayantha Dhanapala is featured in an IDN article by Ernest Corea, “The Challenge of Moving Fast toward a Nuke-Free World.”
21 May 2010. A clip featuring Jayantha appears on NPT TV. Video available here.
17 May 2010. Jayantha Dhanapala interview with David Speedie, Carnegie. “After START: What Next.” Transcript is available here and audio available here.
14 May 2010. Jayantha was interviewed for a Nuketweets podcast on the NPT Review Conference.
7 May 2010. Jayantha Dhanapala gave a statement during NGO session at Review Conference. An audio version of the statement is available here.
28 April 2010, Jayantha Dhanapala gave a talk at Harvard’s Belfer Center on “Prospects for the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference.”
19 April 2010. Jayantha Dhanapala participated in the UNGA Thematic Debate – Disarmament and World Security: Challenges for the International Community and the Role of the United Nations.
April 2010. Jayantha Dhanapala, “The Responsibility to Protect Obama,” Global Perspectives Magazine.
29 March 2010. Jayantha Dhanapala issued a statement welcoming the US-Russian START Treaty. Text available here.
23 March 2010. Jayantha Dhanapala delivered a keynote address, “Nuclear Weapon-Free Zones - Affirmative Action by Non-Nuclear Weapon States in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty” at the Elliot School, George Washington University. Organized by The Elliott School of International Affairs and The United States Institute of Peace. (Jayantha was based at the USIP in spring 2010.)
22 February 2010. Jayantha Dhanapla, “A Safer World for All” was published by the US Department of State’s E-Journal on a World Free of Nuclear Weapons. This piece is translated into several languages.
14 January 2010. New York City. Jayantha spoke at the Doomsday Clock event, sponsored by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
1 December 2009. Pugwash President Jayantha Dhanapala delivered a keynote address at the Royal Society (London) “Connecting Inconvenient Truths: The Urgency of Nuclear Disarmament in a World of Pressing Problems.” The event was chaired by Baroness Williams of Crosby, then a special advisor to the Prime Minister and included a welcome from Lord Rees of Ludlow, President of the Royal Society. The event was sponsored by the President of the Royal Society and Trustees of the Polden-Puckham Charitable Foundation, with the support of the Association of Charitable Foundations.
1 December 2009. London. Jayantha is videotaped by Rosie Houldsworth for the new TalkWorks project. Other Pugwashites are also featured in this series, including Nick Ritchie, Patricia Lewis, Des Browne, Lord Rees, Dan Plesch, Paul Rogers, Keith Barnham, Malcolm Rifkind, and more.
26 November 2009. Paris. CESIM publishes Jayantha Dhanapala’s interview with Benjamin Hautecouverture. “The global non-proliferation and disarmament regime. Challenges and prospects for the future.”
6.0 - HISTORY
10 July 2010. “The Women of Pugwash,” a presentation by Sandra Ionno Butcher given at Thinkers’ Lodge, Lobster Factory, Pugwash, Nova Scotia at a conference co-organized by the Pugwash Peace Exchange and the Pugwash Parks Commission. Sandy also delivered additional presentations on Pugwash and Pugwash history 7-10 July 2010 at Mount St. Vincent University’s conference, “Being the Change: Building a Culture of Peace.” She was joined for a workshop with Ru Ling Susie Chou, daughter of Chou Pei Yuan who participated in the first Pugwash Conference and Eric Bednarski, director of The Strangest Dream. The conference was organized by Alexa McDonough and co-sponsored by Canadian Pugwash (see below). Please see here for a blog entry on “Peace and Pugwash: The 1957 Conference” by Adele Wick.
Restoration is underway at Thinkers’ Lodge in Pugwash, Nova Scotia. Led by John Eaton and the Pugwash Parks Commission, this multi-year project has included a new foundation and roof. See for example, this media report. Sandy Butcher is consulting with them on future historical displays at the lodge.
2 December 2009. The International Astronomical Union named Asteroid Rotblat (discovered 1998 July 26 by the Lowell Observatory Near Earth Object Search at the Anderson Mesa Station). Athem Alsabti (Iraqi Pugwash) and Edward Bowell of Lowell Observatory worked together for this designation, which was granted in December 2009.
Please see the Pugwash History blog for regular posts on history-related items.
7.0 - 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.
AUSTRALIA
June 2010. Adam Breasley and others are taking steps to form a Pugwash group Australia. They met with members of Australia’s NPT delegation.
CANADA
Canadian Pugwash has held a significant series of activities and private meetings related to an Arctic Nuclear Weapons Free Zone. While some of them are reported here, please contact Adele Buckley (adele-buckley@rogers.com) if you would like further information. In addition, Canadian Pugwash is particularly interested in liaising with Pugwash groups in circumpolar countries on this project.
7-10 July 2010. Canadian Pugwash co-sponsored “Being the Change: Building a Culture of Peace,” a conference at Mount St Vincent University (see Section 8.0). Erika Simpson and Adele Buckley were among the featured speakers, and members of Canadian Student Pugwash were present. Some photos are available here.
10-13 May 2010. Canadian Pugwash organized an extensive series of meetings with policy makers, experts and the media for Jayantha Dhanapala. Topics addressed include a nuclear weapons convention, an Arctic Nuclear Weapons Free Zone, the NPT and other related topics. The series of engagements included a public address at the University of Ottawa, “The disarmament scene today: Is a world without nuclear weapons really possible?”
29 April 2010. United Nations. Adele Buckley, Alexa McDonough and others spoke at the Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zones Civil Society Forum.
9 April 2010. Canadian Nobel Laureate John Polanyi, along with Senator Douglas Roche (ret.) and Murray Thomson met with Prime Minister Harper to discuss President Obama's summit and Canada's position on nuclear disarmament. The delegation presented Mr. Harper with a statement signed by more than 500 recipients of the Order of Canada, urging his government's support for a Nuclear Weapons Convention, or treaty, to eliminate nuclear weapons. For a related media report click here.
3 February 2010. Commentary, “Harper Government Missing on Non-Proliferation,” by Douglas Roche and Ernie appeared in Embassy: Canada’s Foreign Policy Newsweekly.
February 2010. “Ridding the Arctic of Nuclear Weapons: A Task Long Overdue,” a report by Michael Wallace and Steven Staples. This publication, co-sponsored by Canadian Pugwash and the Rideau Institute is available here. Additional media reports and information is available on the Canadian Pugwash website.
20-21 November 2009. Toronto. Forum on Food and Population. A public forum on food and population took place at the Koffler Centre, University of Toronto, sponsored by the Global Issues Project of Canadian Pugwash and Science for Peace. The public event preceded a Roundtable on Food and Population, which took place the next day at Ryerson University and was generously co-sponsored by Ryerson. A report is available here.
13-14 November 2009. 13-14 November 2009. Toronto. Canadian Pugwash and 3 other peace groups sponsored a two day event at Council Chamber, Toronto City Hall, Zero Nuclear Weapons Forum. The first day's keynote speakers were Jonathan Schell, His Excellency Mr. Anthony Cary, British High Commissioner to Canada and the Hon. Douglas Roche, and moderated by Alexa McDonough, former leader of the NDP. The event included a Workshop on Arctic Nuclear Weapon Free Zone. Adele Buckley spoke about the future Arctic climate and its link to a NWFWZ.
Also included presentations by Mayor David Miller, Mayor Akiba of Hiroshima, Jonathan Schell, High Commissioner Anthony Cary, Pavel Podvig, Ernie Regehr, Trevor Findlay, Olivia Ward, Michael Wallace, Michael Byers, Steven Staples, Rebecca Johnson, Christopher Westdal, and Sergei Plekhanov. Video clips of presentations available here.
CROATIA
June 2010. London. Ivo Slaus participated in a meeting of the new European Leadership Network.
EGYPT
6 May 2010. New York City. Egyptian Pugwash hosted an event at the NPT Review Conference.
DENMARK
Ongoing. United Nations Day Project. In collaboration with several other Danish NGOs and with financial support from the Hermod Lannung Foundation, Danish Pugwash is participating in a project which will award prizes to students at 10 Danish gymnasiums for projects related to global problems and their solutions and to the United Nations. These projects might be essays, dramatic sketches, videos, websites, posters, etc., and they should be judged on UN Day, preferably before a large audience of students. Judging will be held on Monday, October 25, 2010.
John Avery's 346-page book CRISIS 21: Civilization's Crisis in the 21st Century can be freely downloaded here. Hard copies can be order from here.
1 June 2010. Copenhagen. Danish Pugwash organized events events for the Peace Boat both in Copenhagen and Roskilde. Copenhagen's Mayor of Culture, Pia Allerslev, welcomed the hibakushas at
the Copenhagen City Hall. Events included 10 survivors of the tragic nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (hibakushas).
27 April 2010. John Avery from the Danish Pugwash Group presented a lecture entitled An Arctic Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone; A Nordic NWFZ as a First Step at the Nordic Forum for Security Policy 2010 in St. Petersburg, Russia. His talk is available, please email: avery.john.s@gmail.com.
23 March 2010. Leaders of the opposition parties in the Danish Parliament held a meeting at Christiansborg Palace to discuss whether advocacy of an Arctic NWFZ could be adopted as a common policy for the opposition. The proposal received support from all those present. The meeting was orga-
nized by Jens-Christian Navarro Poulsen (DRV Chairman for Frederiksberg), who was following a suggestion made by Ruth Gunnarsen, Board Member of the Danish Peace Academy.
4 December 2009. Symposium on Energy, Climate Change and Global Food Security. Organized just before the start of the United Nations Climate Summit in Copenhagen, We organized a symposium focusing on the severe food security problems that the world is likely to experience part way through the 21st century because of rising energy prices, growing populations and climate change. Proceedings can be downloaded here.
10-11 August 2009. Conference on an Arctic Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone, In collaboration with the Danish Institute of International Studies (DIIS) and several NGOs. Proceedings are now available here.
GERMANY
Planning is underway to host the upcoming May 2011 International Pugwash Conference in Berlin.
21-25 October 2010, Berlin. German Pugwash organized a series of meetings for Jayantha Dhanapala to meet with key policy makers and experts on issues related to the NPT Review Conference and to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the German Pugwash group. Jayantha’s visit and talks came at an important time, following the statement by German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle on October 25, 2009, saying Germany “will advocate within NATO and towards our U.S. allies a withdrawal of remaining nuclear weapons from Germany,” among other important points.
Dhanapala gave several keynote speeches and met Uta Zapf, the chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Disarmament and Non-proliferation of the German Parliament, Ambassador Peter Gottwaldt, and a group of analysts from the Friedrich-Ebert-Foundation. Jayantha’s address at the Task Force Non-proliferation of the Council of Foreign Relations (DGAP) was “From the NPT to ’Global Zero’: Perspectives of Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament”. At the Foreign Office Jayantha Dhanapala and Prof. Frank von Hippel, Professor of Public and International Affairs at the Woodrow Wilson School (Princeton University/New Jersey) presented their views on “Unblocking Geneva, FMCT and Pakistan”.
On the evening of October 24th, the Vereinigung Deutscher Wissenschaftler (VDW), which forms the basis of the German Pugwash Group, celebrated its 50th anniversary with several keynote speakers. Two hundred scientists, politicians and interested people attended the ceremony. Dhanapala emphasized in his keynote the important contributions to the Pugwash movement made by German scientists such as Max Born, one of the signatories of the Russell-Einstein Manifesto, Horst Afheldt, Hellmut Glubrecht, Klaus Gottstein, Hans-Peter Dürr, and many others. His message was published in a Festschrift which includes historical articles about German Pugwash from Klaus Gottstein, Götz Neuneck and Ulrike Wunderle. Dhanapala´s visit was rounded up by a one day conference on “The Responsibility of Science and Research in a Globalized World” which was organized by the VDW and the German Physical Society (DPG). In the Working Session “Chances and risks for nuclear disarmament,” which was chaired by Götz Neuneck in the Urania in Berlin. Jayantha spoke about “Problems about future substantive disarmament and the path to a nuclear weapon-free world.”
May 2010. Several Pugwashites have contributed to this book by Subrata Ghoshroy and Gotz Neuneck, South Asia at a Crossroads: Conflict or Cooperation in the Age of Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense, and Space Rivalries (Nomos, 2010).
INDIA
Please see above (section 4.0) for information on the new Pugwash India-Pakistan Independent Commission (PIPIC).
21 July 2010. Happymon Jacob, “Kashmir and the poverty of politics,” The Hindu
16 June 2010. Indian Pugwash Society organized a roundtable on Outcomes of NPT Review Conference on 16th June 2010. Shri K. Subramanyam chaired the meeting. The meeting was attended by members of the society and special invitees. Report available here.
24 May 2010. Happymon Jacob, “Rebooting India-Pakistan relations,” The Hindu.
5 May 2010. NPT RevCon 2010: A Troubled Start?, by P K Sundaram.
March 2010. NPT Review Conference 2010: Issues and Prospects, by Dr Arvind Gupta, Strategic Analysis, 34: 2, 225-232.
7 January 2010. Nuclear Forensics: Deterrence by Attribution, by Yogesh Joshi, Indian Pugwash Society.
24 December 2009. Happymon Jacob. “Kashmir insurgency, 20 years after,” The Hindu.
2009. Report of the IDSA-Indian Pugwash Society Working Group on Space Security.
IRAQ
December 2009. Athem Alsabti worked to secure the designation of Asteroid Rotblat.
ISRAEL
2-3 July 2010. Beit Oren, Israel. Israeli Pugwash helped to organize the Pugwash Workshop listed in Section 5.0 above.
ITALY
10-17 January 2010. Andalo, Italy. Italian Pugwash organized the 23rd Isodarco Winter Course: The Road to Nuclear Zero and Arms Control led by school director Carlo Schaerf and course directors Catherine M. Kelleher (Brown University, Providence, RI, USA); Jeffrey Lewis (New America Foundation, USA); and Judith Reppy (Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA). See “Upcoming Activities below for information about a forthcoming book, “Getting to Zero”, that is an outgrowth of recent ISODARCO meetings.
JAPAN
19-20 June 2010. Takao Takahara showed "The Strangest Dream" and led a discussion about Jo Rotblat at a session of the Annual Convention of the Peace Studies Association of Japan. He and others are exploring possibilities for providing Japanese subtitles.
December 2009. A Proposal on Nuclear Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Policy from Japan : 10 Recommendations Based on “Asian Mutually Assured Dependence (A-MAD)” Concept, Japan’s Cooperative Security Initiative. This study project was conducted with grants from the Center for Global Partnership (CGP) of the Japan Foundation, the Toshiba International Foundation, Pugwash Japan, and Pugwash USA. Its members participate in the project as individuals and the contents of the proposal do not necessarily represent those of the organizations or institutions that they belong to.
JORDAN
"Beyond the 2010 Review Conference: Prospects for Nuclear Non-Proliferation" is organized by the Arab Institute for Security Studies (ACSIS), it will take place in Amman, Jordan on October 19-21, 2010.
MEXICO
Ongoing. Miguel Marín-Bosch is teaching and further developing course materials for diplomats and university professors on the nuclear challenge for Latin America.
15 July 2010. Miguel Marín-Bosch, Obamastán y doña Bárbara (Afghanistan), La Jornada.
20 May 2010, Miguel Marín-Bosch, Irán sigue en la mira (Iran), La Jornada.
22 April 2010, Miguel Marín-Bosch, Primavera nuclear (Nuclear Spring), La Jornada
25 March 2010, Miguel Marín-Bosch, Oy vey (Relations with Israel), La Jornada
25 February 2010, Miguel Marín-Bosch, Obama en líos (Obama in trouble), La Jornada
29 October 2009, Miguel Marín-Bosch, Tarea Nuclear (Nuclear Homework), La Jornada.
1 October 2009, Miguel Marín-Bosch, Un consejo para Obama (Security Council Summit), La Jornada.
THE NETHERLANDS
11 December 2009. Utrecht. Götz Neuneck delivered the keynote address on “Global Zero: Problems, Barriers and New Hopes for Nuclear Disarmament” at the Dutch Pugwash Annual General Meeting.
NORWAY
9-10 April 2010. Norwegian Pugwash co-sponsored a conference on European disarmament.
PAKISTAN
Please see above (section 4.0) for information on the new Pugwash India-Pakistan Independent Commission (PIPIC).
8 February 2010, “The Nuclear Question,” by Talat Masood, appeared in The International News. (Talat is a regular commentator in the media.)
PALESTINE
Autumn 2009. Peaceful Resistance: Building A Palestinian University Under Occupation by Gabi Baramki (with a foreword by Jimmy Carter) was launched in events in many capitals. A review in the Times Higher Education Supplement 13 May 2010 is available here.
RUSSIA
5 August 2010 the Russian Pugwash Committee under the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences hosted a round table and press conference in commemoration of the 65th anniversary of Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bomb attacks, and the 55th Anniversary of the Russell-Einstein Manifesto. Academician Yury Ryzhov, professors Serguie Kapitza, Alexander Ginzburg, Ibragim Kerimov (from the Chechen Republic), Rudolf Alexakhin (from Obninsk, Kaluga region), Dr. Victor Kamyshanov, and Mikhail Lebedev gave speeches for mass media in RIA Novosti http://en.rian.ru/.
20 July 2010 in the Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO) of the RAS took place the Commemorating meeting for Dr. Alexander Pikayev, a Pugwashite and leading Russian expert in disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation, who died in Malta on June 16, 2010. Russian Pugwashites participated in the commemoration meeting. More info: www.carnegie.ru, and www.imemo.ru
24 June 2010 the Executive Secretary of the Russian Pugwash Committee Mikhail A. Lebedev, elected secretary of the Russian Student Young Pugwash (SYP) Dr. Peter Korzun, and member of the Russian SYP Julia Usacheva participated in the International Seminar “Boards and Frontier Cooperation between Russian and EU”. The meeting was organized in Moscow by the Institute of Europe of the RAS, and Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Russia. More than 50 participants from different region of Russia, and from Estonia, Finland, Germany, Poland, and the UK took part in the meeting.
More info: www.fesmos.ru
22 June 2010 in the Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO) of the RAS in cooperation with Nuclear Threat Initiative, Inc. was organized the 3rd Conference “ABM Systems, and Further Reduction of Nuclear Weapons”. The meeting was opened by IMEMO Director and the First Deputy Chairman of Russian Pugwash Committee Acad. Alexander Dynkin. There were more than 10 Pugwashites, including Prof. Alexey Arbatov, Prof. Vladimir Baranovsky, Maj.-Gen. (ret.) Vladimir Dvorkin, Dr. Sergey Kortunov, Dr. Marianna Evtodjewa, Dr. Robert Legvold (USA), and others.
More info: www.imemo.ru/ru/conf/2010/22062010.pdf
17-18 June 2010 in Paris (France) took place the International Conference for Prevention of Nuclear Weapons and Others Weapons of Muss Destruction, commemorated of 60th Anniversary of Stockholm Appeal. During the conference was organized a special event in memory of Prof. Frederic Joliot-Curie. The President of International Federation for Peace and Conciliation, and member of the Russian Pugwash Committee Dr. Victor Kamyshanov was among of participants of the conference.
More info: www.ifpc.ru
7 May 2010. Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) in Dubna, and in the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow took place last respects meetings to the Director of JINR, and First Deputy Chairman of the Russian Pugwash Committee Acad. Alexey Sissakyan, who died in Cyprus on May 1, 2010. Acad. Yury Ryzhov, Prof. Alexander Ginzburg, Prof. Ibragim Kerimov, and Mikhail Lebedev from the Russian Pugwash took part in the meetings. More info: www.jinr.ru
24-28 April 2010. Russian Pugwash helped organize the Pugwash delegation of former senior European leaders to Moscow, led by Des Browne (see section 3.0 above).
23-24 April 2010. St. Petersburg. “29th International Conference on Computer Science and Sustainable Development: To the 65th Anniversary of Victory in World War II.” Organized by the St. Petersburg branch of the Russian Pugwash Committee, St. Petersburg State University of Aerospace Instrumentation, and St. Petersburg Union of Scientists, and headed by the Chairman of the St. Petersburg Pugwash Branch Prof. Mikhail B. Ignatyev. More than 150 schoolchildren, students and senior scientists took part in the conference. It was presented over two hundreds reports and posters on 30 sections of the meeting. Mikhail Lebedev, executive secretary of the Russian Pugwash Committee presented paper on Ideals of the Russell-Einstein Manifesto in the 21st Century. Abstracts of papers will be published in September 2010 (in Russian with English annotations). More information on www.pugwash.ru, and www.guap.ru
22-24 April 2010. Chechen Republic (Russia). Interregional Pugwash Symposium, “Science and Higher Education in the Chechen Republic: Perspectives of Interregional and International Scientific and Scientific and Technical Cooperation.” The meeting was organized by the Russian Pugwash Committee under the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), the Academy of Sciences of the Chechen Republic, jointly with Academician M.D. Millionshchikov Grozny State Oil Institute, the Complex Scientific and Research Institute of the RAS, and the Public Chamber of the Chechen Republic. More than one 100 reports and papers from scientists and experts from 12 regions of Russia, and from Georgia, Azerbaijan, Australia, and Singapore. Participants of symposium visited five districts of the Chechen Republic, including high mountain Russian-Georgian state board zone. Abstracts of reports were published in Grozny (ISBN 978-5-91857-004-3). Proceedings of the Symposium will be published in Moscow in December 2010 (in Russian with annotations in English and Chechen). It was also published over 15 articles about results of the meeting in different scientific and mass media journals and newspapers. More information is available at www.pugwash.ru, www.ifpc.ru, and www.anchr.ru
18 March 2010. “Working Meeting on Strategy Stability in 2010s”. Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO) of the RAS. The First Deputy Chairman of the Russian Pugwash Committee Acad. Alexander Dynkin gave a welcome speech. Russian Pugwashites Prof. Vladimir Baranovsky, Amb. Roland Timerbaev, Maj.-Gen. (ret.), Dr. Alexander Pikayev, and Dr. Sergey Oznobishchev took part in the discussion. More info: www.imemo.ru/ru/conf/2010/180310_1.pdf
On March 16, 2010 the Director of the Institute of the USA and Canadian Studies of the RAS, Russian Pugwash member, and Corresponding member of the RAS Prof. Sergey Rogov gave a plenary presentation “Crisis in the Russian science as a threat to the national security of the Russian Federation” on the meeting of the RAS Presidium. President, Vice Presidents and other high-level scientists took part in discussion on this key problem for Russia. More info: www.ras.ru, and www.iskran.ru
27 February 2010. Moscow. “Permanent Russian Seminar on History of Soviet Atomic Project.” Organized by the S.I. Vavilov Institute of History of Science and Techniques of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), Kurchatov Institute of Atomic Energy, and P.N. Lebedev Physical Institute of the RAS. Executive Secretary of the Russian Pugwash Committee Mikhail A. Lebedev gave a two-hour speech “Academician Mikhail Millionshchikov: specialist in oil and engineering, aerodynamics, isotope division, high-temperature nuclear reactors, a leading Soviet scientist in disarmament and non-proliferation in 1960-70s”. More than 70 scientists and scholars from Moscow and scientific cities of Russia took part in the seminar. Brief reports of Lebedev’s speech were published in media.
More info see: www.pugwash.ru.
17-18 December 2009. Russian Academy of Sciences, Russian-American Round Table on Middle East. In the meeting took part Russian Pugwashites Academicians Nickolay Laverov and Eugeny Primakov, as well as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia A. Saltanov, former US Under-Secretary for State Amb. Thomas Pickering, and US Ambassador to Russia John Baierly.
December 2009. The Grozny branch of the Russian Pugwash Committee was created in the Chechen Republic.
29 October 2009. Moscow. Prof. John Holdren, former Chair of the Pugwash Executive Committee, visited Russian Research Center 'Kurchatov Institute' and had meeting with President of Center and Pugwash participant Acad. Yevgeny Velikhov, and with others representatives of Russian scientific community, including Pugwashites.
22 October 2009. St. Petersburg, Russia. 2nd Russian Pugwash National Rotblat memorial meeting.
21 October 2009. Mikhail Lebedev, Executive Secretary of the Russian Pugwash Committee gave a briefing in Andrey Sakharov International Center and Memorial Museum on Current situation, problems and prospects of Russian Army.
SOUTH AFRICA
Joelien Pretorius and Rian Leith (ISYP Board) co-authored an article entitled “Eroding the Middle Ground: The Shift in Foreign Policy Underpinning South African Nuclear Diplomacy,” Politikon: South African Journal of Political Studies (published by Routledge: Taylor and Francis Group, UK), Volume 36, Issue 3, December 2009, pages 345 – 361.
SOUTH KOREA
10-13 March 2010. Seoul, South Korea. Some concerned South Korean scholars and politicians organized an international conference “Summit of Honor on Atoms for Peace and Environment (SHAPE).” The goals were to support and increase the momentum in the on-going discussion for a world without nuclear weapons, to revitalize the non-proliferation regime based on the NPT prior to the Washington Nuclear Summit this April, the 2010 NPT Review Conference in May this year, and to ensure peaceful uses of nuclear technology. The former Director General of the IAEA and Nobel Laureate Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei, Secretary General of Pugwash Conferences Prof. Paolo Cotta-Ramusino and many Pugwash Council members as well as other Pugwashites participated and shared their thoughts. More than 150 experts from 19 countries attended the first SHAPE meeting in Seoul.
SPAIN
XXX CICA on Conflict and Aggression in a Society in Transition, was held on 26-29 August 2010 in Dunajvros (Hungary). The web site of the conference is: http://cica.duf.hu
SWEDEN
6-8 November 2009. Stockholm. Reaching Nuclear Disarmament - the Role of Civil Society in Strengthening the NPT. This conference was organized by several organizations for disarmament, including the Swedish Pugwash Group. Among the speakers were H.E. Sergio Duarte, Ambassador Hans Blix, Ambassador Rolf Ekéus and Ray Acheson. Several members from the Swedish group, including Lars van Dassen, Henning Rodhe, Jan Prawitz and Masako Ikegami, also participated as speakers and moderators during the conference. More information is available here.
19-20 October 2009. Stockholm. Several members of the Swedish Pugwash Group participated in the international symposium Energy 2050 organized by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. The symposium is being held in association with the Swedish EU presidency in autumn 2009. The goal was to provide a message for the Copenhagen meeting. More information available here.
TURKEY
May 2010. Pugwash Council Member Mustafa Kibaroglu, discussed leadership Turkey could play denuclearizing the Middle East by encouraging removal of US nuclear weapons from Turkey on AlJazeera. Video available here.
UK
Please see the British Pugwash website for additional information about the following events.
16 June 2010. British Pugwash held its Annual General Meeting, and a Public Discussion on “The 2010 NPT Review Conference: consequences for the future of disarmament and non-proliferation.” Speakers included Ambassador Peter Jenkins, Geneva Centre for Security Policy; previously UK Ambassador to the IAEA; Carol Naughton, Acronym Institute for Disarmament Diplomacy; and
Prof. John Simpson, Mountbatten Centre for International Studies.
1 June 2010. Pugwashite Martin Rees, Astronomer Royal, delivered a series of Reith Lectures, “Scientific Horizons, including one called “The Scientific Citizen,” which included discussion of Jo Rotblat. Podcast available here.
31st May 2010. Joseph Rotblat Memorial Lecture at the Guardian Hay Festival given by Basharat Peer, author of Curfewed Night, a memoir about the struggle for justice in Kashmir. Further information available here.
26 May 2010. “Armed robots and military nanotechnology: dangers and concepts for preventive limitation,” a British Pugwash discussion meeting at which Prof. Jürgen Altmann of the Faculty of Physics, Technische Universität Dortmund reviewed the military uses of robots, particularly uninhabited vehicles (UAVs) and their potential future role in and influence on warfare, and the possibilities of their preventive limitation.
21 April 2010. “Money spent on Trident can’t go on troops.” The Times. British Pugwash executive committee member Gen. Sir Hugh Beach and 3 other former senior military commanders publish a letter questioning if the UK nuclear deterrent is value for money.
Winter 2009. A pamphlet giving the web address of the booklet "Ending War" by Robert Hinde was sent to all secondary schools in England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Channel Isles, over 5000 in all.
Autumn 2009. British Pugwash organized an extensive series of meetings, interviews and speaking opportunities for Jayantha Dhanapala to discuss issues related to the NPT in key capitals in Europe in the lead up to the May 2010 NPT Review Conference. Jayantha was in residence at St. John’s College, Cambridge from October-Dec 2009. This was generously supported by St. John’s College, Ploughshares Fund, and Polden Puckham Charitable Foundation.
26 November 2009. A British Pugwash Report on “The Management of Separated Plutonium in the UK” was launched at a joint British Pugwash-VERTIC event on “Securing Fissile Materials.” This report received national media attention. A PDF of the report, and further information can be found here.
18 November 2009. British Pugwash President Robert Hinde gave a talk, "Ending War" for the Council on Christian Approaches to Defence and Disarmament.
12 November 2009. Cambridge, UK. Jayantha Dhanapala delivered a keynote address about Disarmament and Development at Cambridge University, co-sponsored by UK Pugwash and Cambridge Student Pugwash. Powerpoint slides available here.
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 included: Jayantha Dhanapala, Wa’el Al-Assad and others. Transcript is available here.
Ongoing: In addition to the listed activities, members of the British Pugwash Executive Committee continue to hold meetings and speak at public events and for student groups on related topics.
USA
Please see Japan entry above.
7.0 - ISYP
9-10 April 2010. Purdue University Student Pugwash hosted a regional conference, “Our Technological Future: Problems, Perils, and Promises.”
10 March 2010. The Student Pugwash USA pledge was quoted in The Guardian, in coverage of a Hippocratic Oath for scientists.
Student Pugwash groups continue to organize events and activities ranging from small scale discussions to larger regional events. We hope to include additional details in the next activities update.
Autumn 2009. Student Pugwash USA closed its central office in Washington, DC.
8.0 - UPCOMING EVENTS
23-24 September 2010, Vladivostok. The 3rd Russian Memorial Rotblat Lecture, “Non-Governmental Dialogue on Territorial Disputes in Asia Pacific Region”. Organized by the Russian Pugwash Committee, Admiral Nevelsky Maritime State University, and InfoRos information agency.
25 October 2010. Judging of the United Nations Day competition (Danish Pugwash and others).
28 October 2010, Moscow. The Grand Meeting of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Russian Pugwash Committee on occasion of 80th Birthday of the Chairman of the Russian Pugwash Committee and member of the Pugwash Council Academician Yuri Ryzhov.
12-14 November 2010. The 11th World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates will be convened in Hiroshima, as part of the commemoration of the 65th Anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Jayantha Dhanapala will deliver a main speech on the challenge of nuclear disarmament.
December 2010. Proceedings of the April 2010 Interregional Pugwash Symposium, “Science and Higher Education in the Chechen Republic: Perspectives of Interregional and International Scientific and Scientific and Technical Cooperation” will be published in Moscow in December 2010 (in Russian with annotations in English and Chechen). (Russian Pugwash)
9-16 January 2011. Andalo (Trento), Italy. 24th Winter Course, International School on Disarmament and Research on Conflicts (ISODARCO). “Eliminating Nuclear Weapons and Safeguarding Nuclear Technologies” (Italian Pugwash).
May 2011. Berlin, Germany. 59th Pugwash Conference. [t.b.c.]
2011. Getting to Zero, edited by Catherine M. Kelleher and Judith Reppy is being published by Stanford University Press. It includes chapters by several Pugwashites, including Matt Evangelista, Goetz Neuneck, Lynn Eden, Venance Journé, Catherine Kelleher, and Judith Reppy. It is a project that has grown out of recent ISODARCO meetings (Italian Pugwash).
2011. ISYP will hold a meeting in the Sinai.
And finally:
We have reported on those activities and projects of which we were aware. Please email Sandy Butcher (sibutcher@earthlink.net) if you have further news or updates you would like mentioned in the next update. And thanks again for all the work you are doing!
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