Sixty years after convening its first meeting, Pugwash held its 62nd conference in Astana, Kazakhstan on August 25-29.
Confronting New Nuclear Dangers
Astana, 25-29 August 2017
- Videos of plenary sessions
- Astana Declaration of the Pugwash Council, “From Prohibition of Nuclear Testing toward Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons”
- Pugwash Council Statement, Astana 2017
- Participants page (password protected)
Media:
- “Trump’s Iran decision fuels concerns from all sides of deal“, Physics Today, 20 October 2017
- “IAEA launches fuel bank for low-enriched uranium“, Physics Today, 29 September 2017
Reports of the conference working groups:
- WG 1 Nuclear disarmament and the UN negotiation process to prohibit nuclear weapons
- WG 2 Nuclear nonproliferation energy
- WG 3 European Security
- WG 4 Middle East Security
- WG 5 South Asian Security
- WG 6 North East Asian Security
- WG 7 Emerging new technologies and security issues
Conference Schedule
Friday 25 August 2017, Palace of Peace and Reconciliation
CONFERENCE OPENING (open to the public)
PL1 – Opening Addresses
Welcome Address by Paolo Cotta Ramusino (Italy), Secretary General of Pugwash
Introduction by Jayantha Dhanapala (Sri Lanka), President of Pugwash
Keynote Speech by Kassym-Jomart Tokayev (Kazakhstan), Chairman of the Senate of the Parliament of Kazakhstan
Response by Sergio Duarte (Brazil), Pugwash Council
Izumi Nakamitsu, UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, Statement
Mikhail Bocharnikov (Russia), Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Kazakhstan
PL2 – PLENARY SESSION: Nuclear Tests, Past and Future
Nuclear tests: past and future by Lassina Zerbo (Burkina Faso), Executive Secretary, CTBTO Preparatory Commission on the Treaty Banning Nuclear Tests
Introduced by Bozorgmehr Ziaran (Iran), Secretary of the CTBTO Preparatory Commission
FIFTH SIMONS SYMPOSIUM: PROSPECTS FOR NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT
PL3 – OPENING ADDRESS
“Prospects for Nuclear Disarmament”
PL4 – PLENARY SESSION: The Ban Treaty and the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons
Elaine Whyte Gómez (Costa Rica), President of the UN Conference to negotiate a legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading to their total elimination
Christine Muttonen (Austria), President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, Speech
Carlo Trezza (Italy), former Ambassador for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation of Italy
Comments by Bruce Blair (USA), Program on Science and Global Security at Princeton University and Alimzhan Akhmetov (Kazakhstan), Center for International Security and Policy, Astana
Chair: Sergio Duarte (Brazil), Pugwash Council
PL5 – PLENARY SESSION: Nuclear and WMD-Free Zones in the Middle East
Nasser Hadian (Iran), Professor of political science at the University of Tehran
Khaled Shamaa (Egypt), former Permanent Representative of Egypt to the International Organizations in Vienna
Comments by Togzhan Kassenova (Kazakhstan), Fellow, Carnegie Endowment of International Peace
Chair: Jayantha Dhanapala (Sri Lanka), President of Pugwash
PL6 – PLENARY SESSION: Nuclear Dangers
Rakesh Sood (India), Distinguished fellow, Observer Research Foundation
David Danieli (Israel), former Deputy Director General (Policy), Israel Atomic Energy Commission
Talat Masood (Pakistan), former Secretary for Defence Production in the Ministry of Defence
Comments by Vladimir Shkolnik (Kazakhstan), former Minister of Energy of the Republic of Kazakhstan
Chair: Cliff Kupchan (USA), Pugwash Council
Saturday 26 August 2017
PL7 – PLENARY SESSION: North East Asian Security
Gleb Ivashentov (Russia), former Ambassador of Russia to the Republic of Korea
Tong Zhao (China), Fellow, Carnegie-Tsinghua Center for Global Policy, Beijing
Seiji Endo (Japan), Professor of International Politics, Seikei University, Tokyo
Mark Suh (South Korea), Pugwash Council
Comments by Sharon Squassoni (USA), Senior Fellow, Center for Strategic and International Studies
Chair: Pan Zhenqiang (China), Pugwash Council
PL8 – PLENARY SESSION: Report of the Secretary General
Paolo Cotta-Ramusino (Italy), Secretary General of Pugwash
Chairs: Saideh Lotfian (Iran), Chair of the Pugwash Council
PL9 – PLENARY SESSION: Moving Towards Peace in Afghanistan
Anwarulhaq Ahady (Afghanistan), Afghan Minister of Transportation and Commerce
Davood Moradian (Afghanistan), Director of the Afghan Institute for Strategic Research Studies
Ghulam Farouq Azam (Afghanistan), Chairman of Movement for Peaceful Transformation of Afghanistan
Rustam Shah Mohmand (Pakistan), former Ambassador of Pakistan to Afghanistan
Robin Raphel (USA), former Senior Advisor on South Asia, US State Department
Chair: Ahrar Ramizpoor (Afghanistan), Pugwash Council
Sunday 27 August 2017
PL10 – PLENARY SESSION: ISIS
Hussain Al-Shahristani (Iraq), former Deputy Prime Minister
Comments by: Azay Guliyev (Azerbaijan), Vice-President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly
Chair: Sherry Rehman (Pakistan), Member of the Senate
PL11 – PLENARY SESSION: Security Challenges in Central Asia and their Solutions
Yerzhan Saltybayev (Kazakhstan), Director, Institute of World Economics and Politics
Hakim Abdullah (Tajikistan), Head, Foreign Policy Analysis and Forecasting, Center for Strategic Studies
Muratbek Imanaliev (Kyrgyzstan), former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic
Talatbek Masadykov (Kyrgyzstan), former Political Director of the UN Assistance Mission to Afghanistan
Davood Moradian (Afghanistan), Director of the Afghan Institute for Strategic Research Studies
Bakhtiyor Ergashev (Uzbekistan), Deputy Director of the Center of Traditional Cultures
Chair: Timur Shaimergenov (Kazakhstan), Deputy Director of The Library of the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan
Monday, 28 August 2017
PL12 – PLENARY SESSION: Presidential Address
Jayantha Dhanapala (Sri Lanka), President of Pugwash
Chair: Saideh Lotfian (Iran), Chair of the Pugwash Council
PL13 – PLENARY SESSION: Dorothy Hodgkin Discussion on Reducing Global Nuclear Dangers
Sam Nunn (USA), Co-chair of the Nuclear Threat Initiative
Ernest Moniz (USA), Chief Executive Officer and Co-chair of the Nuclear Threat Initiative
Chair: Jayantha Dhanapala (Sri Lanka), President of Pugwash
Tuesday 29 August 2017
PL14 – PLENARY SESSION: The Iranian Nuclear Deal and its Consequences
Sergey Ryabkov (Russia), Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation
Comments by Nasser Hadian (Iran), Professor of political science at the University of Tehran and Peter Jenkins (UK), former British Ambassador to the International Organizations, Vienna
Co-chairs: Li Bin (China), Pugwash Council and Paolo Cotta-Ramusino (Italy)
PL15 – PLENARY SESSION: Future of civilian nuclear energy and internationalization of the nuclear fuel cycle
Tatsujiro Suzuki (Japan), Director of RECNA, Nagasaki
Sharon Squassoni (USA), Senior Fellow, Center for Strategic and International Studies
Chair: Francesca Giovannini (Italy), Program Director for Global Security and International Affairs, American Academy of Arts and Sciences
CONFERENCE CLOSING
Saideh Lotfian (Iran), Chair of the Pugwash Council
Sergio Duarte (Brazil), Pugwash Council
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev (Kazakhstan), Chairman of the Senate of the Parliament of Kazakhstan
Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs 