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Daisy Alliance at the United Nations
On May 7, 2010, Daisy Alliance hosted a panel discussion on "Getting to a Middle East Nuclear Weapon Free Zone" at the 2010 NPT Review Conference. The panelists were Dr. Avner Cohen, Dr. Michael Yaffe, and Dr. Gawdat Bahgat. The panel provided strategies to make progress on establishing a Middle East NWFZ. It was followed by a lively discussion between diplomats and civil society.
Watch the Highlights
Daisy Alliance Program Director, Holly Lindamood, moderated the panel & addressed the NPT delegates during the NGO presentations to the UN General Assembly.
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Take Action
In April, Presidents Obama and Medvedev signed the New START agreement, which decreases U.S. and Russian nuclear arsenals to 1,550 deployed strategic nuclear weapons and 700 deployed delivery vehicles. This treaty is an important step in achieving a world free of nuclear weapons and represents a signifcant shift from previous U.S. policy. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Senator Richard Lugar, former Sec. of Defense James Schlesinger, and former Administrator of the NNSA Linton Brooks, all support this treaty.
It is imperative that the U.S. ratifies this treaty as a sign of good faith to the international community of its commitment to the nonproliferation and disarmament regime.
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Features
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This month, we are featuring an essay and artwork by Daisy Alliance's youngest member, 6th grader Elizabeth DeAngelis. Elizabeth's essay, "The Atom Bomb," is an insightful and well researched overview of the early history of nuclear weapons. It makes a plea to world leaders to eliminate the scourge of nuclear weapons on humanity. Congratulations to Elizabeth on a well written piece and a touching drawing!
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In the April issue of The Washington Quarterly, Hui Zhang, Project on Managing the Atom, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, assesses the implications of Chinese nuclear policy on the nuclear-free world campaign. Zhang's article, "China's Perspective on a Nuclear-Free World," discusses China's position in the nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament regime, and analyzes China's role in getting to zero.
In "The Twenty Percent Solution: Breaking the Iranian Stalemate," Ivan Oelrich, Vice President of the Strateigc Security Program (SSP), Federation of American Scientists, and Ivanka Barzashka, Research Associate, SSP, discuss the implications of the Tehran Research Reactor (TRR) deal. The TRR deal would reduce Iran's stockpile of low enriched uranium (LEU) by trading finished TRR fuel elements for Iran's LEU. |
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NPT Review Conference News
The Treaty on the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) 2010 Review Conference opened on May 3 at the United Nations in New York. The Review Conference is held every five years to assess the implementation of the treaty and to make substantive progress on global nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament. After the failure to produce a final document at the 2005 Review Conference, hopes are high for a successul outcome.
Government statements during the first week show there is still a wide gulf between the West and the Non-aligned Movement on whether to prioritize nonproliferation or disarmament. The U.S. has repeatedly called attention to Iranian noncompliance, while the NAM, the New Agenda Coalition, and several European states have called on nuclear weapons states to make progress on disarmament under Article VI, and especially on implementing the 13 practical steps. Many states (including the NAM) have called for a time frame for disarmament.
There has been widespread support for reaffirming the need to make progress on implementing the 1995 Middle East Resolution, including from the P-5. There has also been widespread support for a nuclear weapons convention, which is strongly supported by civil society as necessary to eliminating nuclear weapons.
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