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28 April 2011
GG2020 releases report on global nuclear governance
The Global Governance 2020 program has published a report by the nuclear governance working group that recommends approaches to nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament that qualify success as more than simply the number of nuclear weapons or the number of nuclear states. Released in April 2011, the report is titled Beyond the Numbers – Strategies for Global Nuclear Governance.
Following a one-year scenario building process, the working group also proposed a nuclear governance framework that includes better accounting methods and enhanced transparency. These are essential attributes for improving nuclear security, fostering trust and ultimately building the foundation for serious reductions of nuclear weapons in the future.
The GG2020 fellows recommend:
- Do not let the focus on reducing absolute numbers of weapons distract from, or militate against, the other essential components of nuclear global governance, including accountability and transparency.
- Given the importance of latent nuclear capacity, in which non-nuclear weapon states could rapidly develop a nuclear weapon, the possession of an operational nuclear weapon should no longer be considered the singular red line for containing nuclear proliferation.
- Global nuclear governance needs to address the proliferation of nuclear expertise to an ever-increasing number of states, which is as dangerous in the long term as the proliferation of nuclear fuel or materials.
- Non-nuclear weapon states committed to the nonproliferation agenda should use their perceived legitimacy to help bridge the gap between haves and have-nots by spearheading new initiatives to limit proliferation.
- Efforts on global nuclear governance should be better coordinated with other policy domains, including civilian energy generation.
The GG2020 program brought together 24 young leaders – eight each from the United States, China and Germany – to jointly develop a vision for the system of global governance in the year 2020 and beyond. The program focused on the future of global governance in three key issue areas: climate change, nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament, and global economic governance.
The GG2020 program is jointly conducted by GPPi, the Hertie School of Governance, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University, Brookings, Fudan University and the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences. The program is generously supported by the Robert Bosch Stiftung and the Transatlantic Program of the German Government (ERP Grant administered by the German Ministry for Economics and Technology).
Read the full GG2020 nuclear governance report Beyond the Numbers – Strategies for Global Nuclear Governance.
For more on the GG2020 program, specifically the nuclear governance working group, please visit the GG2020 website or contact Joel Sandhu.