Nuclear Watch Now: Disarming the World? Uniting Nations for Nuclear Nonproliferation

Can the United Nations successfully facilitate nuclear disarmament? That goal is the mandate of the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA), a department tasked with supporting governments in disarmament and non-proliferation across a varied and complex foreign policy landscape. While the 2017 adoption of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons marked a significant victory for multilateralism, the challenges of advancing disarmament are vast. The success of bilateral arms control agreements, such as New START between the United States and Russia, are in jeopardy. Other countries are seeking to further develop or modernize their nuclear arsenals. The world needs multilateral institutions to reduce the possibility of nuclear cataclysm, and UNODA does so by supporting dialogue and strengthening global norms against the use, possession, and testing of nuclear weapons with the ultimate goal of their elimination.

Given the tensions of today, where will UNODA find the support it needs to guide countries away from the development and modernization of their nuclear arsenals? Can it lean on nuclear-armed states, like the United States, to improve global nuclear norms? What power might non-nuclear states wield to press for nuclear disarmament?

In this Perry World House 2023 Global Order Colloquium event addresses these questions and more with Under-Secretary -General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamistu.

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