The Acronym Institute for Disarmament Diplomacy

The Acronym Institute for Disarmament Diplomacy has been working since 1995 to promote effective approaches to international security, disarmament and arms control. Engaging with governments and civil society, Acronym provides reporting, analysis and strategic thinking on a range of issues relevant to peace and security, with special emphasis on treaties and multilateral initiatives.

The Acronym Institute publishes the journal Disarmament Diplomacy, with comprehensive overview of news, events and documentation relating to disarmament negotiations and developments in proliferation.

Founding Director & Editor: Dr Rebecca Johnson rej@acronym.org.uk
Deputy Director and Website manager: Nicola Butler

The Acronym Institute is grateful to the Ford Foundation, the Ploughshares Fund, and the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust for their enabling support of our work and publications, including this website.

Highlights

The UK and Nuclear Weapons, June 2008

Nuclear Non-Proliferation News, June 2008

This month's edition includes information on:

Disarmament Documentation, June & July 2008

Disarmament Documentation is a compilation of recent official documents and statements relevant to arms control, non-proliferation and disarmament.

North Korea Foreign Ministry Statement on the disablement of Yongbyon, 4 July 2008
Start worrying and learn to ditch the bomb, Letter to The Times by Douglas Hurd, Malcolm Rifkind, David Owen and George Robertson, 30 June 2008
Federation of American Scientists reports removal of US nuclear weapons from the UK, 26 June 2008
President Bush press conference on North Korea, 26 June 2008
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on the North Korea Declaration, 26 June 2008
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice Op-Ed on North Korea, 26 June 2008
North Korea: Presidential Action on State Sponsor of Terrorism (SST) and the Trading with the Enemy Act (TWEA), 26 June 2008
EU High Representative for the CFSP Javier Solana, Speech to the Conference on Disarmament, 25 June 2008
French Defense White Paper, 17 June 2008
IAEA Director General Dr Mohamed ElBaradei Statement to the IAEA Board of Governors, 17 June 2008
Proposal to Iran by China, France, Germany, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, the United States of America and the European Union, 14 June 2008
EU High Representative for the CFSP Javier Solana, Remarks at Press Conference in Tehran, 14 June 2008
President Bush and Prime Minister Brown on Iran, 14 June 2008
IAEA Director General Dr Mohamed ElBaradei Interview with Der Spiegel, 11 June 2008

NPT Preparatory Committee meeting, April - May 2008

The second PrepCom for the 2010 NPT Review Conference took place in Geneva from 28 April to 9 May 2008.

Rebecca Johnson, Executive Director of the Acronym Institute for Disarmament Diplomacy participated, and her analyses are available below. For NGO updates and the main statements and documents from the PrepCom see also Reaching Critical Will.

Latest Updates and Briefings

2008 NPT PrepCom adopts report but not Chair's factual and balanced Summary, Rebecca Johnson, May 9, 2008
Chair's Factual Summary, May 9, 2008
Statement by the Delegations of China, France, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United States of America, Delivered by UK Ambassador John Duncan to the 2008 NPT PrepCom, Geneva, May 9, 2008
2008 NPT PrepCom: Debates over, plus safeguards summary, Rebecca Johnson, 7 May 2008
2008 NPT PrepCom: Decisions taken, Security Assurances debated, Rebecca Johnson, 6 May 2008
2008 NPT PrepCom: Calm first week and disarmament roundup, Rebecca Johnson, 2 May 2008
Day 3, General Debate ends with concerns about cold war legacies of tactical nuclear weapons and contamination, Rebecca Johnson, 30 April 2008
General debate day 2: Of Common Endeavours and Double Standards, Rebecca Johnson, 29 April 2008
2008 NPT PrepCom gets going smoothly, Report of Day 1: April 28, 2008, Rebecca Johnson

Webcasts from Geneva

The NPT review process, Rebecca Johnson, 28 April 2008
Expectations for the 2008 PrepCom, Rebecca Johnson, 28 April 2008

Reports from Disarmament Diplomacy

Is the NPT being Overtaken by Events? by Rebecca Johnson , Disarmament Diplomacy, No.87, Spring 2008
Back from the Brink? The 2007 NPT PrepCom Report
by Rebecca Johnson. A detailed analysis of the conduct, dynamics, and substantive debates at the 2007 NPT PrepCom, Disarmament Diplomacy No. 85, Summer 2007.
See also: Chair's Summary, reproduced in full

Disarmament Diplomacy, Issue No.87, Spring 2008

Time to Outlaw the Use of Nuclear Weapons, Editorial, by Rebecca Johnson
Is the NPT being Overtaken by Events? by Rebecca Johnson
Stagnation and Redundancy: Report on the 2007 UN First Committee, by Michael Spies, including:
- 2007 First Committee Resolutions, Summary and Explanations
US and Russian Public Opinion on Arms Control and Space Security, Nancy Gallagher
Space War, the Logical Next Mistake for US Exceptionalism, Mike Moore
Bucharest Summit: US Missile Defence Bases Continue to Divide NATO, by Nicola Butler and Martin Butcher

In the News
- Toward a Nuclear-Free World, George P. Shultz, William J. Perry, Henry A. Kissinger, Sam Nunn and others, Wall Street Journal, January 15, 2008
- A World Free of Nuclear Weapons George P. Shultz, William J. Perry, Henry A. Kissinger and Sam Nunn, Wall Street Journal, January 4, 2007
- Laying the Foundations for Multilateral Disarmament, Des Browne MP, UK Secretary of State for Defence, Statement to the Conference on Disarmament, Geneva, February 5, 2008
- Presentation of Le Terrible in Cherbourg, Nicolas Sarkozy, President of the French Republic, March 21, 2008 (excerpts)
- Oslo Conference on Achieving the Vision of a World Free of Nuclear Weapons, Jonas Gahr Støre, Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Statement to the Conference on Disarmament, Geneva, March 4, 2008 (excerpts)
- North Atlantic Council (NAC) Statement on The Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty, March 28, 2008
- Bucharest Summit Declaration, April 3, 2008
- US-Russia Strategic Framework Declaration, April 6, 2008
- Conference on Disarmament fails to adopt 2008 programme of work, tries new P-6 presidential draft decision, March 13, 2008

NATO Summit, 2 - 4 April 2008

NATO Heads of State and Government met in Bucharest against a backdrop of strained relations between the US and Russia, particularly concerning missile defence and the siting of US missile defence bases in Poland and the Czech Republic. NATO also faces increasingly difficult conditions in Afghanistan.