Reassessing the global nuclear order

Reassessing the Global Nuclear Order – Past, Present, and Future is hosted by RMIT University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (8-10 January).

The conference is the greatest gathering of nuclear specialists ever held in Australia, bringing together scholars and think tanks from the United States, United Kingdom, China, Iran, Australia and New Zealand.

Co-convenor Professor Joseph Siracusa said the event coincided with the 50th anniversary of the Gilpatric Report, which helped transform American nuclear non-proliferation policy.

“This landmark conference aims to open a keenly needed conversation to assess the contemporary global nuclear order – the history of its creation, its present health and viability, and future threats and challenges,” Professor Siracusa said.

“The Gilpatric Report’s controversial recommendations led to a profound re-examination of the threat nuclear weapons posed to the US and the world.

“Fifty years on, do we need a similar reassessment of our attitudes and policies towards nuclear weapons?”

Key questions considered at the event, which will be an Aspen-style set of intensive conversations based on think-pieces produced by delegates, include:

• What role do security alliances, treaties, regime type, and norms play in nuclear statecraft and the global nuclear order?
• What have been the greatest successes of the nuclear order, what are its greatest challenges, and what are the prospects for the future?
• What methods are most effective at producing policy-relevant answers to our most pressing nuclear challenges?

Delegates will include conference co-convenor Professor Francis Gavin, first Frank Stanton Chair in Nuclear Security Policy Studies and Professor of Political Science at MIT, Emma Belcher (MacArthur Foundation, USA), Ken Young (Kings College London, UK), Elisabeth Röhrlich (University of Vienna, Austria), Eliza Gheorghe (Cornell University, USA), Wenting Nie (The Party School of the Central Committee of the CPC, China) and Gareth Evans (Australian National University).

The conference is held in conjunction with RMIT’s Centre for Global Research, the Nuclear Studies Research Initiative and the International Security Studies Forum (an H-Diplo production).

The landmark event builds on RMIT’s renown as Australia’s leading research hub for the field of nuclear studies.

RMIT researchers have published numerous books and papers on nuclear security issues – from an examination of US President Barack Obama’s nuclear weapons strategy to a comprehensive overview of the international nuclear arms race. 

Professor Siracusa, Deputy Dean of Global and Language Studies in the School of Global, Urban and Social Studies, is a long-standing authority on international security matters and has published more than 25 books, earning him global recognition.

Top New York publisher Rowman & Littlefield recently selected Professor Siracusa and Dr Aiden Warren to edit a prestigious new series on weapons of mass destruction.

The series will focus on weapons of mass destruction, dissecting issues surrounding nuclear, chemical, radiological, and biological weapons.