Don’t Panic! Evolving Nuclear Risks

Russia’s war in Ukraine has challenged the international nuclear order in many ways. The war has seen Russia set dangerous precedents. It has frequently threatened nuclear use, weaponized the civilian nuclear industry by holding the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant hostage, and promised to deploy tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus, requiring Belarus to abandon its commitment to remain nuclear free. More broadly, Russia has softened its stance towards the nuclear activities of Iran and North Korea as part of the price for their support, Iran has resisted cooperation with the IAEA diminishing hopes of restoring the JCPOA, the prospect of wider and deeper nuclear arms control has been damaged by Russia’s suspension of its participation in New START, and the international consensus on nuclear non-proliferation has been weakened as countries observing the fate of Ukraine consider the value of investing in their own nuclear programmes.

Speakers

Stephen Biegun

Senior Vice President of the Boeing Company, former US Deputy Secretary of State

Xavier Chatel

Advisor for Strategic Affairs to the French Presidency

Tomas Ries

Senior Lecturer at the National Defence College

Joseph M Siracusa

Dean of Global Futures at Curtin University

Artyom Shraibman

Political Analyst and Founder of Sense Analytics

Moderator

Hanna Notte

Director of Eurasia Non-proliferation Program at James Martin Center for Non-proliferation Studies

What measures are needed to contain the worsening nuclear security situation? How can nuclear blackmail using both weapons and civilian applications be countered? How can further nuclear proliferation be avoided?

“‘I like the cover,’ he said. ‘Don’t Panic. It’s the first helpful or intelligible thing anybody’s said to me all day.’”
Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (1978)