Events

Security and Defence

The Non-Proliferation Treaty: US and Russian Perspectives
18 Sep 2020 15:00 - 16:00
Source: The W76-2 will be launched aboard Trident II D5 missiles. (Ronald Gutridge/U.S. Navy)
Introduction

This webinar is co-organised with The Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 

Fifty years ago, the ‘corner-stone’ of global nuclear weapons non-proliferation and disarmament entered into force: the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Both speakers will discuss the treaty from a US respectively Russian perspective: is the treaty still relevant to these nuclear weapon states, and what are their stakes at the upcoming Review Conference of the Treaty?

Speakers

Thomas Countryman is the Chair of the Board of Directors of the Arms Control Association, a US nonpartisan organization dedicated to promoting public understanding of and support for effective arms control policies. Previously, Mr. Countryman was the Acting Undersecretary of State for arms control and international security. He served for 35 years as a member of the US Foreign Service until January 2017, achieving the rank of Minister-Counselor, and was appointed in October 2016 to the position of Acting Undersecretary of State. He simultaneously served as Assistant Secretary of State for international security and nonproliferation, a position he had held since September 2011.

Sergey Batsanov is Director of the Geneva Office of Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs, a global organisation aimed at bringing together scientists, experts, and policy makers to focus on problems that lie at the intersection of science and world affairs. One of Pugwash’s main goals is the elimination of all Weapons of Mass Destruction. Before becoming Director in 2005, Ambassador Batsanov served as USSR and Russian Ambassador to the Conference on Disarmament from 1989 to 1993, after having worked on arms control and disarmament issues in Moscow. He was also a senior member of the secretariat of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague from 1993 to 2004.

The webinar will be moderated by Sico van der Meer, Research Fellow at the Clingendael Institute.

Programme

  • 15:00 Introduction by Sico van der Meer (Clingendael)
  • 15:05 Presentation by Thomas Countryman (ACA)
  • 15:15 Presentation by Sergey Batsanov (Pugwash)
  • 15:25 Discussion and Q&A with the audience
  • 16:00 End

Follow the livestream

The webinar will be streamed live on YouTube