The report on Pugwash International activities in the period 2016-2017 is available for download here.
Noteworthy is that the next Pugwash conference will take place in Yerevan, Armenia in August 2019.
Pugwash Nederland has a new chair. This was decided on April 5 2018 at the general meeting in Utrecht. Interim chair prof. dr. ir. Georg Frerks is succeeded by Marc Vogelaar. Marc Vogelaar served as ambassador for the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He is certainly not unknown within the Pugwash organization, as he already held a board position a few years ago as general board member.
In addition, Rens de Man has resigned from his duties as general board member. Biejan Poor Toulabi and Michiel Hoogeveen were appointed as treasurer and secretary, respectively. They both already served interim during the chairmanship of Georg Frerks.
Pugwash Nederland expresses the sincere appreciation to Georg Frerks and Rens de Man for their time and effort.
Ambassador Marc Vogelaar (left) takes over the role of chair from Prof. dr. ir. Georg Frerks (right)
On February 2, 2018, the Pentagon released the new Nuclear Posture Review (NPR), stating that it rests “on a bedrock truth: nuclear weapons have and will continue to play a critical role in deterring nuclear attack and in preventing large-scale conventional warfare between nuclear-armed states for the foreseeable future.”[1] The global landscape is already filled with simmering nuclear tensions, as well as other serious issues of conflict. Stressing the role of nuclear weapons is not merely unhelpful but is likely to increase these tensions.
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By Pugwash President Jayantha Dhanapala and Pugwash Secretary General Paolo Cotta-Ramusino
Statement on the DPRK Nuclear TestToday, 6 January 2016, North Korea conducted a new nuclear test. Over the last 17 years, the DPRK has been the only country in the world to continue to conduct nuclear weapon tests.
Today’s test was announced as a test of a thermonuclear weapon, although more probably it was a test of an ordinary fission weapon with possibly some (fusion) “boosting”.
While the DPRK probably has a long way to go toward building real thermonuclear weapons that could be placed on long-range missiles, still, the general political message associated with this latest test is far from positive.
The political tensions present in the North-East Asian region should be addressed by political means—and not by escalating the arms race and sending threatening messages. The resumption of the six-party talks, and the facilitation of communication between the two Koreas, are important steps that should be sustained by all the states involved, as well as by the international community.
Jayantha Dhanapala, President of Pugwash
Paolo Cotta-Ramusino, Secretary General of Pugwash
Also available online: http://pugwash.org/2016/01/06/statement-on-dprk-nuclear-test-3/
Copyright © 2016 Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs, All rights reserved.
The evolving strategic context, the re-emergence of chemical weapons and their use by militant non-state actors and extremists, challenge the future effectiveness of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).
The future challenges of the Convention have been take up in a March 2015 OPCW document titled «The OPCW in 2025: Ensuring a World Free of Chemical Weapons» (document S/1252/2015), attached here.
On 20 March 2014, The Hague Institute for Global Justice and the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), with support of Pugwash Nederlands, will convene a roundtable of experts to explore issues related to the governance of nuclear security. This event will take place under the Nuclear Knowledge Summit (NKS) event series, an official side event to the Nuclear Security Summit (NSS). Continue reading
In november 2013 heeft de internationale Pugwashconferentie plaatsgevonden in Istanbul. U kunt hier meer informatie vinden over deze conferentie, waaronder de rapporten van de werkgroepen.
Tijdens de Algemene Ledenvergadering van Pugwash Nederland van 30 oktober 2013 is het beleidsplan voor de periode 2013-2015 aanvaard. Het beleidsplan is onder in PDF-vorm te downloaden.
We applaud the decision of the Norwegian Nobel Committee to award the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). The timing of this award is striking. The OPCW represents an outstanding example of what the international community can accomplish even at the most dire of times. This is being proven in the on-going Syrian crisis, where in response to the use of chemical weapons bold political moves were made to attempt to avert a further escalation of the already grave military conflict. This creative solution represented ‘out of the box’ thinking and also was discussed at the unofficial “Track II” level, including through the Pugwash network. Continue reading
A report of activities and finances of Pugwash Netherlands for the budget year 2012-13 (1 July 2012-30 June 2013) is now available. The report also includes financial information for the period 2007-2013.