BACKGROUND

After decades of standstill in nuclear disarmament diplomacy, at the last United Nations General Assembly a majority of states has voted to start negotiations in 2017 for a ban on nuclear weapons. Based on the work of the “Open-ended Working Group” in Geneva in 2016, these negotiations will elaborate concrete elements for a nuclear ban treaty in March, June, and July in 2017 in New York.

Austria has been a significant driver in this process as part of the Humanitarian Initiative for nuclear disarmament, which over the years – with three international conferences, and lately the UNGA Resolution – has yielded the support of a majority of states. Two-thirds of member states have now voted in favour of starting negotiations on a ban. The most fervent opponents to the negotiations continue to be the western nuclear weapon states as well as the states under the nuclear umbrella.

Given the beginning of the negotiations in New York as well as the meeting of the Preparatory Committee for the 2020 Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Cycle in Vienna next year – nuclear weapons will be one of the major topics in international politics in 2017.

AIM OF DISCUSSION

With this event we want for experts of the diplomatic community, academia, politics and civil society to discuss their expectations for the negotiations in 2017 and how these will impact international relations. The roundtable is intended to draw attention to and raise awareness for the topic. Especially Vienna, the capital of one of the states that have been leading the current paradigm shift in nuclear disarmament and where the NPT PrepCom and the OSCE Ministerial Council will be convened in 2017, will become a center of attention for disarmament diplomacy next to New York.

SPEAKERS

The list of speakers will be updated as details are confirmed.

Werner Kerschbaum
Secretary General, Austrian Red Cross

Franz Josef Kuglitsch
Ambassador, Austrian Federal Ministry for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs

Ulrike Lunacek
Vice President, European Parliament

Wolfgang Petritsch
President, Austrian Marshall Plan Foundation

Tariq Rauf
Director, Disarmament, Arms Control and Non-Proliferation Programme, SIPRI

Nadja Schmidt
Director, ICAN Austria

WELCOME

Markus Kornprobst
Professor of International Relations, Diplomatic Academy of Vienna

MODERATION

Fabio Polly
Journalist, ORF Radio Foreign Policy

The roundtable will be followed by a reception.
Download the event poster (PDF)

PLEASE NOTE:
For all ICAN supporters not based in Vienna, we are going to host a live-stream of the event on Facebook to enable our international friends and colleagues to follow this event as well. Please visit our Facebook-Page to watch the live-stream!

A COOPERATION OF

SUPPORTED BY

PARTNER