On August 29 the Black Sea Women in Nuclear Network commenced its first Black Sea Experts NucTalk. The webinar was devoted to the overview of the Tenth NPT Review Conference and new challenges to the nonproliferation regime tied to the war in Ukraine and the general tensions given the geopolitical situation.
Three speakers presented a short presentation of the main points and challenges and gave their professional view of the future world order: Dr. Shorena Lortkipanidze – a founder and a board member of the Civil Council on Defence and Security, Tbilisi, Georgia; Valeriia Hesse – a Non-Resident Fellow at the Odesa Center for Nonproliferation; Nomsa Michelle Ndongwe – a Research Associate at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, USA. The session was moderated by Dr. Valeriia Gergiieva – a Visiting Fellow at the IFSH at the University of Hamburg and a Research Fellow of the Odesa Center for Nonproliferation. The NucTalk gathered around 20 participants from Georgia, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Belgium, Germany, the USA, and Austria.
An open discussion touched upon the growing role of nuclear weapons as a key sticking point for the nonproliferation regime. Participants shared their thoughts on whether the NPT States Parties would be willing to follow through on their legal obligations and on commitments to which they have agreed by consensus in the past.
All participants expressed their anxiety about the lack of a shared and steadfast commitment to Article VI. One of the most relevant topics was the consequences of the Russian invasion of Ukraine for the whole nonproliferation regime as it could provoke some states to rethink their non-nuclear weapons status – both for deterrence and/or power projection purposes.