Nuclear risk-reduction & disarmament: Is it time for no-first-use policies in the USA & globally?

‘No-first-use’ is a policy that can be adopted by a nuclear armed (or allied) state to never initiate a nuclear exchange by being the first to use nuclear weapons. China and India have declared such policies. The Soviet Union/Russia had such a policy from 1982 to 1993. There are political developments promoting the adoption of no-first-use policies by others – particularly the United States and its allies under extended nuclear deterrence, i.e. NATO/Japan/South Korea and Australia.

This webinar explored whether such policies could reduce the risk of a nuclear war and pave the way for multilateral nuclear disarmament, how such policies could be operationalised, what new initiatives were advancing such policies, and political forces and security arguments supporting or preventing their adoption.

Chair:

• Marc Finaud, (France/Switzerland), Head of Arms Proliferation at GCSP

Speakers:

• Mr Thomas Countryman (USA), Chair of the Arms Control Association Board of Directors, Former United States Assistant Secretary of State for International Security and Non-proliferation
• Mr Andrey Baklitskiy (Russia), Senior Research Fellow, Center for Advanced American Studies, Institute of International Studies, MGIMO University of the Russian Foreign Ministry General Bernard Norlain (France), Former Air Defence Commander and Air Combat Commander of the French Air Force. Vice-President of Initiatives pour le Désarmement Nucléaire Lord Hannay of Chiswick (UK), Chair, All Party Group on Global Security and Non-proliferation Commander Robert Forsyth (UK), Former Nuclear Submarine Commanding Officer, Royal Navy
• Ms Uta Zapf (Germany/NATO/OSCE), Former Chair of the Bundestag Subcommittee on Disarmament and Arms Control
• Ms Yasmeen Silva (USA), Partnerships Manager, Beyond the Bomb

Disclaimer: The views, information and opinions expressed in this digital product are the authors’ own and do not necessarily reflect those shared by the Geneva Centre for Security Policy or its employees. The GCSP is not responsible for and may not always verify the accuracy of the information contained in the digital products.