New MPI Briefing Paper promotes a comprehensive diplomatic process to eliminate nuclear weapons
[click here to read in Arabic] [click here to read in French]
(cover photo - MPI Framework Forum roundtable in Berlin)
The Middle Powers Initiative (MPI), in a new briefing paper A Beacon of Hope, calls for the commencement of a comprehensive diplomatic process to achieve a legal framework for the universal prohibition of nuclear weapons and for their phased elimination.
The briefing paper, written by John Burroughs Executive Director of the Lawyers’ Committee on Nuclear Policy, notes that such a process could emerge from one or more of the following;
- the series of conferences on the humanitarian impacts of nuclear weapons, the next being held in December 2014 in Vienna;
- the UN Open-Ended Working Group (OEWG) on taking forward proposals for multilateral nuclear disarmament negotiations;
- the UN High-Level Conference on nuclear disarmament which the United Nations General Assembly has decided to hold prior to 2018;
- the 2015 NPT Review Conference;
- a high-level initiative by a few influential states independent of the above venues, in the way that the United States initiated the Nuclear Security Summits.
A Beacon of Hope, MPI Briefing Paper, September 2014
The paper acknowledges the difficult political environment for making progress on nuclear disarmament negotiations – particularly the tensions in the Middle East, South Asia, between Russia and the West, and in North East Asia.
On the other hand, the paper notes the increasing global understanding of the high risks and catastrophic consequences of nuclear weapons use, the reducing relevance of nuclear postures in addressing conflicts, and the greater capacity to use legal mechanisms and cooperative security approaches to resolve issues that gave rise to nuclear deterrence doctrines.
UN High Rep Angela Kane speaking at MPI Framework Forum event in New York
Angela Kane, UN High Representative for Disarmament, quoted in A Beacon of Hope, MPI Briefing Paper, September 2014
The paper also notes that considerable preparatory work on the framework to achieve a nuclear-weapon-free world has now been done, both informally and through multilateral bodies such as the UN Open Ended Working Group. This includes work on a variety of approaches such as a Model Nuclear Weapons Convention, a phased approach as advanced by Global Zero, a ‘building blocks’ approach, a framework agreement, or a ban treaty initiated by non-nuclear weapon States. Such preparatory work can help build sufficient political will for the commencement of multilateral negotiations, and could also guide the negotiations once they commence.
Framework Forum roundtable in Geneva, August 2013
The briefing paper has been prepared for a track-two roundtable meeting of government delegations and disarmament experts in Geneva on 8 September 2014, being co-sponsored by MPI, Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament, Basel Peace Office and the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Geneva Office. The roundtable is part of a series of Framework Forum events organised to engage and support governments in constructing the framework to achieve a nuclear-weapon-free world.