Fort Ross Dialogue 2020 - Peace
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Day 1: Fostering Peace In a Time of Nuclear Proliferation
One important event – 50 years since the global cornerstone disarmament regime, the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) entered into force – is being marked this year.
To prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, the world community, led by Washington and Moscow, has coined the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) that entered into force in 1970. NPT’s key components focus on promoting cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and eventually achieving nuclear disarmament. Furthermore, the NPT created a safeguard system under the responsibility of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which is used to this day to verify compliance with the treaty through inspections conducted by the international team of experts. The cornerstone non-proliferation agreement proved so crucial for the world’s security that in 1995 countries voted to extend the NPT indefinitely. Today, 191 states are subject to this agreement, with the goal of freeing the world from nuclear weapons.
However, the erosion of arms control treaties, nuclear modernization efforts, as well as the impact of emerging technologies such as AI are making the world less safe. To combat this trend, it is crucial to ensure that the voices supporting the global nuclear disarmament efforts are given an audience. We take this opportunity to reflect, debate, remember and educate the public on the impact of nuclear weapons on communities, the state of arms control treaties, as well as more recent progress in nuclear disarmament.
Opening Remarks: Fort Ross Conservancy CEO Sarah Sweedler; World Affairs Council President & CEO Philip Yun; California Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis.
Panel 1: Fostering Peace In a Time of Nuclear Proliferation
- Matthew Rojansky, Kennan Institute, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Director
- Professor Rose Gottemoeller, Stanford University, Payne Distinguished Lecturer and Hoover Institution Research Fellow
- Sergey Alexeevich Ryabkov, The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation
From Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia, Sergey Ryabkov, “I’m so glad to participate in this year’s 2020 Fort Ross Dialogue. …I wish we will have more chances in the time to come to exchange on issues before us, spanning from the legacy of earlier Russian entry into North America over to current corporations on issues like Covid-19 and economic interaction including between regions of US and Russia and defiantly all the issues in relation to strategic stability.”
From Rose Gottemoeller, “It is a great honor to appear at this Fort Ross Dialogue with my long time Russian colleagues Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov and Ambassador Anatoly Antonov….I think we need a few quick wins right now of which a five-year New START extension is most important for both the United States and Russia.”
Panel 2: Forging a More Durable World Order: Former California Governor Jerry Brown and Former Senator Sam Nunn in Conversation
Governor Brown and Senator Nunn discuss how the United States can develop a foreign policy that is both wise and realistic. They will touch on relations with Russia and China and how great powers can disagree and coexist in a world evermore interdependent.
From Former Senator Sam Nunn, “We are in a period of danger because we are not having a strategic dialogue with the Russians… The arms control regime has broken down. There are a whole lot of people that seem to think that diplomacy in the nuclear area is a reward for good behavior. Diplomacy is not a reward for good behavior, particularly when it comes to nuclear weapons. Diplomacy and strategic nuclear dialogue is important for the survival of our nation and survival of Russia for that matter, as well as the survival of the world.”
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