Recent and upcoming nonproliferation activities, events, and announcements involving the CNS center, staff, and programs.

Updated: Dec 3, 2010

A CNS-led Simulation Adopts a Declaration on Middle East WMD-Free Zone

New York, 15 October 2010 - A group of 25 UN Disarmament Fellows simulated the final hours of the planned 2012 Conference on the Middle East zone free of weapons of mass destruction, as agreed at the 2010 NPT Review conference. Following intense, fraught and delicate negotiations, the Fellows adopted a final declaration establishing a subcommittee of the Conference to consider elements of a future treaty on a zone free of weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East. Simulation participants also decided to convene a follow-up conference to consider the report of the subcommittee and agree on further steps towards establishing the zone. CNS staff, in cooperation with the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs, organized the half-day simulation and assisted the participants with factual information and advice on negotiating positions.

The UN Disarmament Fellows program was established in 1978 following the First Special Session on Disarmament (SSOD I) and annually affords junior diplomats an opportunity to visit and observe the work of various international disarmament and nonproliferation organizations, and receive briefings from experts in the field. CNS traditionally cooperates with the UN to provide expert presentations during the fellows' stay in New York. This year was the first time that CNS conducted a simulation of a negotiation with the Disarmament Fellows — a teaching tool that CNs has developed to great effect. CNS hopes that the scope and content of the draft declaration will assist the thinking and planning for the 2012 conference.