Alva Myrdal Centre for Nuclear Disarmament

Our Professor Isak Svensson predicts who could be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on 11 October. Here is his list of six worthy and possible recipients of this year’s price: ☮️ The Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Karim Khan, for standing up for international humanitarian law in armed conflicts. ☮️ The International Court of Justice (ICJ), for its crucial role in international law. ☮️ A shared prize between the Israeli organization B-Tselem and the Palestinian Al Haq for their many years of commitment to peace in the Middle East. ☮️ A shared prize between Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg, Irish diplomat and UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Anti-Terrorism Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, and the organization Campaign to Stop Killer Robots for putting the need for international rules on autonomous weapons on the international agenda. ☮️ Sudan Resistance Committees for their grassroots efforts to create a peaceful and democratic Sudan and to assist those in need in the ongoing civil war. ☮️ Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, South Africa, for efforts to broker the agreement that ended the Tigray war in Ethiopia. More detailed motivations can be found in Isak’s column in Utrikesmagasinet (in Swedish). 👉https://lnkd.in/dy9M_BHT What is your prediction?

Building on yesterday’s update from our working groups researching different aspects of nuclear disarmament, the sessions on day two of our annual retreat focused on thinking about ways to deepen the collaboration between the groups and the potential for joint publications and workshops. Many innovative ideas on how to raise the awareness of disarmament issues amongst the public as well as amongst policy makers and researchers were also discussed. It has been very inspiring getting fresh input from our working groups as well as our board. Thank you for your valuable insights. We can’t wait to start working on the new initiatives together! – stay tuned for more on those.     

🎙 Professor Isak Svensson, who heads our working group researching nuclear negotiations, was interviewed this morning on Swedish Public Radio about the risk of a major regional war in the Middle East and the risk of nuclear weapons being used. You can listen to the interview in P1 Morgon here. 👉 https://lnkd.in/ertt6pbJ

Members of our working groups as well as our board have joined us in Uppsala for our annual AMC Retreat. The morning started with a discussion about our AMC Conference next summer, which generated many useful ideas. Next, our working groups presented their rigorous and impactful work in the past year as well as their focus looking forward. The third session offered an opportunity to take stock of what’s been achieved during our first three years in operation and to think about how to most effectively work towards the goals and vision of the centre in the future. The final session of day one centred on AI as a topic of research for AMC, especially at the intersection between AI governance and nuclear disarmament.

The seminar “Ukraine – How can the war end?” at the Gothenburg Book Fair featured Oscar Jonsson, PhD, researcher at the Swedish Defense University as well as our Prof. Peter Wallensteen. The discussion was moderated by Pia Bernhardson, director of public education at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs (Utrikespolitiska institutet, UI)

Today is the UN International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons. Nuclear disarmament and arms control are achieved through negotiations, treaties and implementation. This important work must continue undeterred. To support this endeavor Alva Myrdal Centre provides quality research and data. A great example of this is our recently launched AMC Database, which features a comprehensive overview of nuclear- and other arms-control agreements. Currently we are also building a new database on nuclear negotiations. Access AMC Data on our website. 👉 https://amcdata.uu.se/en Read more on the UN website. 👉 https://lnkd.in/dBbSDrJ

Indonesia, Sierra Leone and the Solomon Islands ratified the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) yesterday in New York. These are encouraging new datapoints to add to our AMC Database on arms-control agreements! https://lnkd.in/eu_Fr_zB

Our Prof. Peter Wallensteen will be on the panel of two seminars at the Gothenburg Book Fair on Friday 27 August. The first seminar begins at 10 am and is titled “After Ukraine – Must we again discuss the risk of nuclear war?” The second member of the panel is Jakob Hallgren, director of the Swedish Institute of International Affairs (Utrikespolitiska institutet, UI). Read more on the fare’s website (in Swedish) 👉 https://lnkd.in/d5x3Nubt In the second seminar “Ukraine – How can the war end?” Peter is joined by Oscar Jonsson who is an expert on Russian warfare. This seminar starts at noon. Read more on the fare’s website (in Swedish) 👉 https://lnkd.in/dppVcy8T We look forward to highly relevant and insightful discussions. Do join us in Gothenburg!

We are looking for 1–3 research assistant/s (full-time position, 3 months employment), for a research project focusing on nuclear disarmament and arms control negotiations. The employment will start in early October 2024. Following the successful launch of our database on arms-control agreements 𝘈𝘔𝘊 𝘋𝘢𝘵𝘢, we are currently building a comprehensive dataset on negotiations, including bilateral and multilateral negotiations on arms control, nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. The project is headed by Prof. Isak Svensson. The main work as a research assistant for the project consists of collecting data on nuclear negotiations and also carrying out initial descriptive analysis and visualization. Please submit your application by 4 October. Read more and apply on the university website. 👉 https://lnkd.in/eZ42tH5J #hiring #researchassistant #nucleardisarmament #negotiation #database

It was such a privilege hosting Intan Bedisa and all the other amazing participants of our summer school and hearing their valuable input. More information about the Armament and Disarmament Summer School is available on our website. Information about the call for applications for next year’s course will be added at the beginning of 2025. 👉 https://lnkd.in/dqBEu3cj