CfP: Conference on The End of the Cold War and Its Impact on Nuclear Non-Proliferation
On
9 November 1989, the Berlin Wall fell, ushering in the collapse of the
Soviet Union and an end to the Cold War. These events had far-reaching
consequences globally. In Southern Africa, where classic Cold War proxy
war scenes had been playing out since the mid-1970s, the geopolitical
scene changed dramatically as a result of these events. Soviet support
was withdrawn from Africa and with it, the perceived communist threat
that dominated the South African Apartheid regime’s policies since the
1960s. The Apartheid regime subsequently became the first country to
dismantle and destroy its small indigenously developed nuclear weapons
arsenal, which it had developed since the 1970s as a deterrent and as a
tool to ensure the survival of apartheid. Former Soviet states Ukraine,
Belarus and Kazakhstan followed hot on the heels of South Africa. These
(now independent) states inherited thousands of nuclear weapons when the
Soviet Union imploded, and opted to disarm. By 1996, all strategic
nuclear weapons on the territories of these states had been transferred
to the Russian Federation. All four states had also joined the NPT and
Africa became a nuclear weapons free zone. During those same years, more
additional steps towards disarmament were implemented than in any
previous period since the beginning of the nuclear age, from the
signature of START I in 1991 and START II in 1993 to the Indefinite
extension of the NPT at the 1995 RevCon and the signature of the CTBT in
1996.
Yet, thirty years after the unprecedented period of seven
years during which four states opted for nuclear disarmament,
international efforts to reduce nuclear risks are in deep turmoil and
many observers fear that the global non-proliferation regime is fraying.
Since the end of the Cold War, three more states (India, Pakistan and
North Korea) have become nuclear-armed states and remains outside the
NPT, along with Israel. The Iran nuclear deal faces serious challenges
that could lead to its collapse. The second summit between the USA and
North Korea ended with no agreements reached and wide gaps persisting on
what exactly denuclearization means. In February 2019, the USA and
Russia suspended their compliance with the INF Treaty. The USA announced
it would resume research and development of weapons prohibited under
the treaty. Russia, in turn, resumed work on new nuclear-armed
hypersonic missiles and land-based systems. The knock-on effect of these
decisions was an announcement by Ukraine that it now had a right to
develop intermediate-range missiles to counter Russian nuclear-capable
missile systems in the Crimea and Russian aggression towards Europe.
2020
marks the fiftieth anniversary of the NPT entering into force. The aim
of the two-day conference in Johannesburg on 20-21 January 2020 is to
reflect on global nuclear non-proliferation since the end of the Cold
War and consider the challenges facing the non-proliferation regime.
Interested presenters should upload abstracts of no more than 500
words, by 30 September 2019, at the URL below.
Contact Info:
Professor Anna-Mart van Wyk
Department of Politics and International Relations
University of Johannesburg