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Asser Institute Doctoral Seminar Series – Nuclear Weapons: Challenges and Opportunities

26.-27.09.2022

Following the success of our first PhD and postdoctoral research seminar where we focused on conventional arms control, we now invite PhD and postdoctoral researchers to join us in person at the Asser Institute in The Hague for the second 2022 arms control seminar now focused on the topic of nuclear weapons.

Asser Institute Doctoral Seminar Series

The Asser Institute Doctoral Seminar Series on International Arms Control Law will provide a select number of early career researchers with insights into the current and future issues raised by International Arms Control Law with perspectives from international law and related disciplines. At each seminar, academics and practitioners will deliver several expert lectures on the international legal framework of arms control, geo-political perspectives on arms control, institutional and procedural frameworks for control and disarmament, as well as emerging issues and trends. Additionally, the seminar provides an opportunity for doctoral and postdoctoral researchers to present an aspect of their research related to International Arms Control to foster interdisciplinary exchange among peers in a low-stakes environment.

Nuclear Weapons: Challenges and Opportunities

The second 2022 arms control seminar features the topic of ‘Nuclear Weapons: Challenges and Opportunities’. Originally scheduled for May 2020, the Tenth Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) is now due to be held in August this year. Since the delegates last met, numerous controversial developments have taken place in the field. Strategic instability is increasing among nuclear weapon states, with several nuclear and conventional weapons agreements and practices discarded since the last review conference and nuclear weapon states reviving their reliance on nuclear weapons. Frustrated with the slow process of disarmament, non-nuclear weapon states acted to elaborate a new treaty prohibiting nuclear weapons for all states on the basis of international humanitarian law. The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which has 86 signatories, entered into force on 22 January 2021. The treaty has split states into two camps, those favouring the NPT deterrence model and those favouring global disarmament. Given these factors, the Tenth NPT Review Conference will provide a crucial moment to build new consensus on arms control processes for the future.

Participation

Participation in the workshop is per invitation, extended to approximately 10 doctoral candidates and postdoctoral researchers who are currently conducting research in arms control, whether from legal, historical, political or theoretical perspectives. Please email Thea Coventry (t.coventry@asser.nl) to register for the event by Monday 12 September, including your university affiliation and research focus. Acceptance will be on a first-come, first-served basis. The event is organized in-person.

The seminar will be structured around three lectures spread over two days on the topics of: 1) the normative shift in nuclear arms control; 2) negotiating arms control treaties; and 3) the Tenth NPT Review Conference. On Tuesday 27 September, the participants will engage in a roundtable discussion on their research topics, guided by Asser Institute researchers. Additionally, the participating doctoral candidates and postdoctoral researchers have the option to give an individual 15 to 20 minute presentation on their research. Participants wishing to present their research should submit a short abstract on their presentation topic by email to Thea Coventry by Monday 19 September.

Participants in the seminar are also kindly invited to join, as part of the programme, an expert panel discussion reflecting on the Tenth NPT Review Conference , which will take place at the Asser Institute on Tuesday 27 September at 14:00 in the Mandala Room. The expert session will be followed by a reception.

More information and a detailed programme are available at: https://www.asser.nl/education-events/events/?id=4261

Address
T.M.C. Asser Instituut – R.J. Schimmelpennincklaan 20-22 The Hague, Netherlands
Organizer
Asser Institute Centre for International & European Law
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