This is a weekly electronic information service of the International Network of Engineers and Scientists for Global Responsibility

Editor: Tobias Damjanov, e-mail: < >
INES homepage: http://inesglobal.org
INES International Office < >
INES Chair Prof. Armin Tenner < >

INES Congress 2000

''Challenges for Science and Engineering in the 21st Century''

Stockholm, 14-18 June 2000

http://www.ines2000.org

 INES 2000 Conference Secretariat: mailto:

CONTENTS of WNII No. 3/2000

• Nuclear Weapons:
  • Briefings on the 2000 NPT Review Conference
    • Update on NPT preparations by the NGO Community
    • WILPF "Reaching Critical Will"
    • Suggestion that States Parties should be represented by Heads of States &
    • US Nonproliferation Policy
    • Open Letter to all leaders of non-nuclear weapons states
• Briefings:
  • "Disarmament Diplomacy" No. 42
• Conferences, Meetings, Seminars:
  • Direct Democracy: the eastern and central European experience
  • International Experts Meeting on Sustainability Assessment of Trade Liberalisation
  • 5th Annual International Student Symposium on Negotiation and Conflict Resolution
  • Worlds in Transition: Technoscience, Citizenship and Culture in the 21st Century
• INES Web- and Email Service

NUCLEAR WEAPONS

Abolition 2000 homepage: http://www.abolition2000.org

Grassroots News: http://www.napf.org/abolition2000/news/  

Briefings on the 2000 NPT Review Conference

Dear readers, As you might be aware, this year's Review Conference on the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) is to take place at New York, 24 April to 19 May. INES, and, most particular, its international Working Group INESAP, have been involved in the NPT business for many years, and so have been quite a few INES members and member organisation, especially the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation which nowadays serves as the international coordination body of the Abolition 2000 Network for the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.

It is against this background that from now on, I should like to regularly publish here Briefings on the preparations regarding this Conference, especially as far as the international NGOs' involvement is concerned. Following my concept for this publication, I shall be as brief as possible which means, among other things, that mainly, I might publish references and contact addresses only. This, however, shall include that you can order articles from me which I then would specify.

Tobias Damjanov WNII Editor

Update on NPT preparations by the NGO Community

Roger Smith < >, Network Coordinator of the New York-based UN NGO Committee on Disarmament, has published this recent overview. It mainly contains information on a NGO representatives' meeting on 11 January with Ambassador Abdallah Baali of Algeria, who has been named Chairman of the upcoming NPT Review Conference.

Send me a request if you wish to receive this note.

Also useful: Go to the website of the NGO Committee at: http://www.peacenet.org/disarm/  

  WILPF "Reaching Critical Will"   http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org 

In late December last year, Felicity Hill < >, Director of the United Nations Office of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), has passed on information about this specific WILPF project named "Reaching Critical Will" which includes an update of activities planned at and around the Review Conference. Note in particular that WILPF has booked the second floor of 777 UN Plaza for the entire period of the Conference. As Felicity Hill wrote, "NGO events, seminars, briefings and caucuses will be welcome to use the space &. "

Send me a request if you wish to receive this note.

Suggestion that States Parties should be represented by Heads of States &

Based on an idea put forward by Rebecca Johnson <  > from the UK-based Acronym Institute and editor of "Disarmament Diplomacy", Alice Slater (President of the INES member organisation Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE)) suggests, " that the States Parties should be represented by their Heads of States of Foreign Ministers at during the opening days of the conference which begins on April 24th to indicate the need for 'high level political will' for nuclear disarmament. We can begin now to write letters to our heads of states urging them to demonstrate their commitment to Article VI and its promise of nuclear disarmament by showing up at the NPT Review in New York and calling for immediate negotiations on a treaty to eliminate nuclear weapons."

Alice Slater already drafted an example letter which you can receive either from her via < > or from the WNII editor.

Note in addition that Rebecca Johnson probably will continue her coverage of NPT events which she did so excellently in previous years. She used to publish her highly informative updates at: http://www.acronym.org.uk  

US Nonproliferation Policy [Source: "NATO Nuclear Flash", Volume 2, Number 1, January 14, 2000]

In talks at the Carnegie International Non-Proliferation Conference on January 12 and the National Press Club on January 6, US National Security Advisor Sandy Berger discussed US nonproliferation goals and foreign policy goals. John Holum, the US under secretary of state for arms control and international security, held a press conference on January 12 to discuss the upcoming review of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

• "Samuel R. Berger Outlines US Foreign Policy": http://www.whitehouse.gov/WH/EOP/NSC/html/speeches/19990112.html
• "NSC Advisor Berger's Remarks to the National Press Club": http://usa.grmbl.com/s20000106b.html
• "Partial Transcript: Holum January 12 Worldnet on Arms Control": http://www.usia.gov/products/washfile/ea.shtml  

Open Letter to all leaders of non-nuclear weapons states

Promoting nuclear disarmament in connection with the NPT, this letter has been produced by the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation (NAPF). Meanwhile, some interesting comments have been made by Rob Green, Jackie Cabasso, Howard W. Hallman and Alyn Ware, followed by responses from David Krieger, President of NAPF.

The letter plus the comments are available from the WNII editor.

BRIEFINGS

"Disarmament Diplomacy" No. 42 http://www.acronym.org.uk  

December's 1999 issue, DD42, begins with an editorial looking at the nature of our dependence on experts and then provides reports from NATO's Ministerial meetings in Brussels and the efforts of States Parties to the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) to negotiate a verification protocol in Geneva.

The Acronym Institute's senior analyst, Nicola Butler, looks at NATO Defence and Foreign Minister's deliberations on national missile defence (NMD), Kosovo and European security and concludes that NATO is fiddling while its relations with Russia burn. Henrietta Wilson, who attended the recent BWC negotiation on behalf of the Acronym Institute and VERTIC, brings us up to date with the ongoing negotiations in the BWC Ad Hoc Group, focussing particularly on the opposing positions on compliance measures, technical co-operation and export controls.

In Opinion & Analysis Angie Zelter sets out the details of the legal case against nuclear weapons that captured British headlines in October after it led to the acquittal of three peace activists facing charges of damaging a nuclear weapons research laboratory connected with Britain's Trident nuclear submarine base in Scotland.

George Bunn of Stanford University considers the impact of the United States' NMD plans on arms control and explains why NMD could spell "No More Disarmament". Nicholas Sims of the London School of Economics considers the conceptual distinction between arms control and disarmament treaties and concludes that withdrawal clauses are inappropriate for disarmament treaties.

Documents and Sources includes recent key statements from December's NATO Ministerial meetings in Brussels, the new Scottish legal ruling on nuclear weapons, Madeleine Albright on arms control after the Senate CTBT vote, CFE Treaty amendments, the new OSCE Charter, and Tony Blair on Britain's new global role. Relevant website references are also given.

The News Review includes reflections on recent newswire coverage of the Security Council's adoption of a new resolution on Iraq, a new breakthrough on implementing the US-North Korea framework agreement, US discussions with South Korea on its missile plans, Russian claims on the ABM Treaty, the Duma on START II, and Yeltsin's response to criticism over the war in Chechnya, the US Stockpile Stewardship Program review, approval for a new US tritium production plan, the recent arrest of Los Alamos nuclear scientist, Wen Ho Lee, the question of whether or not the US based nuclear weapons in Japan, and South Asian nuclear diplomacy.

Rebecca Johnson < >

CONFERENCES, MEETINGS, SEMINARS

Direct Democracy: the eastern and central European experience (International conference)

• Date: 25-26 February 2000
• Venue: Budapest, Hungary
• Organized by the University of Geneva
• Topics include:
  • Direct vs representative democracy
  • Popular sovereignty and referendums
  • Nationwide institutions and experiences
  • Subject-matters of popular votes
  • Techniques and procedures of popular votes
  • Plebiscites and referendums
  • Nationwide institutions and experiences
  • Forms of government and referendums
  • Participation and turnout
  • Influence of political parties, movements and other pressure groups on direct democracy
  • Sub-national direct democracy
  • Regional and local experiences

For more details, see announcement at: http://c2d.unige.ch/col2000/ 

International Experts Meeting on Sustainability Assessment of Trade Liberalisation

• Date: 6-8 March 2000
• Venue: Quito, Ecuador
• Organized by World Wildlife Fund International (WWF) and Fundacion Futuro Latino Americano (FFLA)
• The objective of the meeting is to identify, with the assistance of a number of different stakeholders, methodological 'best practices' to undertake sustainability assessments of trade agreements with a view to enhancing international coordination in this field.
• The Experts meeting aims to:
  • Give timely and concrete input into both the CSD and WTO processes by helping inform the debate on these issues.
  • Contribute to governmental preparations for future WTO trade negotiations through the analysis of both the positive and negative effects of trade liberalisation with particular emphasis on the transboundary and global effects, and reflection on the appropriate policy responses necessary to secure sustainable development goals;
  • Engage all relevant stakeholders, including governments, international organisations and civil society organisations, to increase information exchange and coordination on these issues.

For more details, contact Mireille Perrin, Officer, Trade & Investment Unit, WWF, at:   http://www.panda.org   

5th Annual International Student Symposium on Negotiation and Conflict Resolution

• Date: 17 July-13 August 2000
• Venue: Rotterdam, The Netherlands
• Organized by the Institute for International Mediation and Conflict Resolution (IIMCR) in cooperation with Erasmus University Rotterdam

This is a rare opportunity for (under)graduates and young professionals to meet and interact with international leaders and negotiation and mediation practitioners in order to learn the practical skills relating to preventing and reducing conflicts around the world.

Application deadline is March 17th, 2000.

For more details, mailto:   or goto: http://www.iimcr.org 

Worlds in Transition: Technoscience, Citizenship and Culture in the 21st Century

• Date: 27-30 September 2000
• Venue: Vienna (University of Vienna), Austria
• Organized by the European Association for the Study of Science and Technology (EASST)
• Conference Programme: http://www.univie.ac.at/Wissenschaftstheorie/conference2000/prog.html  

For more details, mailto: .at http://www.univie.ac.at/Wissenschaftstheorie/conference2000/  

INES WEB AND E-MAIL SERVICE

All INES e-mail addresses and homepages are available upon request from:

<><><><><> end of No.3/2000  what's new in ines <><><><>