The Geneva Centre for Security Policy Senior Programme Advisor, Marc Finaud recently presented a report entitled, “What Nuclear-Weapons Possessor States Tell Us and What We Should Reply,” at the “Move the Nuclear Weapons Money” conference in Basel, Switzerland.

The event, held from 12-13 April 2019 and hosted by the City of Basel, brought together legislators, climate change, disarmament and financial experts, and activists to address and work to reverse both corporate and financial interests which are maintaining a fossil-fuel based economy and a nuclear arms race.

On Day 2, during a session entitled: Nuclear weapons impact, risk reduction and disarmament, Finaud pointed out dangers of relying on nuclear deterrence and provided responses to the arguments used by nuclear-armed states to justify their reliance on nuclear weapons. In Mr Finaud’s opinion new negotiations especially between the United States and Russia need to take place and also more attention should be devoted to CTBT and FCMT. He also called for de-alerting, adoption of “no-first use” policy, reducing nuclear weapons and for freezing modernization of these weapons. Mr Finaud concluded saying that “if the ‘step-by-step’ approach is not making any progress amongst the nuclear armed and allied States, then non-nuclear weapon states have a responsibility to advance nuclear disarmament through initiatives like the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.”