NTI Champions Risk Reduction and Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zones at UN First Committee

On the margins of the United Nations First Committee meetings in New York, NTI Co-Founder and Co-Chair Sam Nunn and NTI’s Global Nuclear Policy Program (GNPP) engaged in activities that reinforce NTI’s strategy of engaging diverse stakeholders across policy, expert, and diplomatic communities to advance practical nuclear risk reduction measures and strengthen the global disarmament and nonproliferation architecture.

On October 8, Nunn joined German Deputy Federal Commissioner for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation Susanne Riegraf for a conversation on nuclear risk reduction with approximately 80 diplomats and experts from around the world. Nunn highlighted NTI’s work promoting nuclear fail-safe reviews as a key unilateral step nuclear-armed states can take to reduce nuclear risks even amid high tensions and faltering guardrails. “Every day and every night, the world’s stability and fate depend on the rationality of nine leaders…and every day, these nine states have to avoid blunders,” he said. The event also featured a risk reduction “marketplace” where NTI and other organizations showcased their risk reduction initiatives and ideas for the diplomats in attendance.

Later that day, GNPP convened a working dinner with diplomats from across Africa, Latin America, the Asia-Pacific, and Europe to explore opportunities to strengthen Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zones (NWFZs). The dinner brought together representatives from all five existing NWFZs (Latin America and the Caribbean, South Pacific, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Central Asia), creating a unique platform for cross-regional exchange on how these zones can be leveraged to strengthen the disarmament and nonproliferation architecture in today’s complex security environment. Participants discussed new opportunities for cooperation among zones, strategies for reinforcing their normative power, innovative ways to adapt NWFZ frameworks to emerging security and technological challenges, and the role of youth in shaping the future of these regimes.

On October 16, GNPP’s Patricia Jaworek spoke at the UN Youth4Disarmament Forum on a panel about “Destabilizing Effects of Artificial Intelligence and Information & Communications Technology on Nuclear Stability.” She highlighted how multilateral discussions are increasingly focused on the nexus of AI, cyber, and nuclear risks, including within the NPT context, and underscored the importance of fostering inclusive, multi-stakeholder conversations that bring together diplomats, civil society, and technical experts from the private sector to build a shared understanding of both the risks and opportunities in the nonproliferation space.