Veröld House of Vigdis - Friday May 17

Gather with international nuclear arms control experts and practitioners to address the present and emerging challenges in nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. This one-day conference is open to the public and will feature Margot Wallström, former Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Sweden, Bruce Turner, U.S. Permanent Representative to the Conference on Disarmament and Melissa Parke, Executive Director of ICAN, among others.

The ACONA Conference will take place in Veröld - House of Vigdís in Reykjavik, Iceland on May 17, 2024

LIVE STREAM from the conference

09:45-10:00 – Coffee and Light Breakfast

10:00-10:10

Opening Remarks: Jón Atli Benediktsson, Rector, University of Iceland

10:10-10:15

Remarks on Behalf of ACONA

Arvid Bell, Lecturer on Government, Harvard University; Member, ACONA Executive Board

Silja Bára Ómarsdóttir, Professor of International Affairs, University of Iceland, ACONA Associate

10:15-11:00

Opening Conversation: Strategies for Global Security:

Nordic Nations’ Approaches to Nuclear Threats

Margot Wallström, former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sweden

Moderator: María Mjöll Jónsdóttir, Director General, Directorate for International Affairs and Policy at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Iceland

11:00-11:15

Distinguished Greetings: A Chinese Perspective on Arms Control

Fan WANG, President, China Foreign Affairs University

11:15-11:30: Coffee Break

11:30-12:30

Expert Panel: Echoes of Reykjavík: From Arms Race to Common Ground

Guðmundur Hálfdánarson, Professor of History, University of Iceland

Edward M. Ifft, former U.S. arms control negotiator; Distinguished Visiting Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University

Pavel Palazhchenko, former personal interpreter to Mikhail Gorbachev; Head of the International Relations and PR Department, Gorbachev Foundation, Member, ACONA International Advisory Board

Bo QU, Associate Professor and Director, Institute of International Relations, China Foreign Affairs University

Moderator: Christian Ostermann, Director, History and Public Policy Program, Wilson Center, Member, ACONA Executive Board

12:30-13:15 – Lunch

13:15-14:00

Innovation Round Table: Design Thinking, Negotiation Campaigns, and New Ideas for Nuclear Diplomacy

Mariana Budjeryn, Senior Research Associate, Project on Managing the Atom, Belfer Center, Harvard Kennedy School, ACONA Associate

Sascha Hach, Research Associate, Peace Research Institute Frankfurt, ACONA Associate

Valeriia Hesse, ACONA Fellow ‘24 and Winner of the January 2024 ACONA Boot Camp Negotiation Award; Researcher, Odesa Center for Nonproliferation

ACONA Fellow ‘24, Winner of the May 2024 ACONA Boot Camp Policy Brief Award

Commentator: Bruce Turner, U.S. Permanent Representative to the Conference on Disarmament

Moderator: Arvid Bell, Lecturer on Government, Harvard University; Member, ACONA Executive Board

14:00-14:30

Keynote: The Future of Nuclear Diplomacy

Bruce Turner, U.S. Permanent Representative to the Conference on Disarmament

14:30-14:45 – Coffee Break

14:45-16:15

Expert Panel: Avoiding Nuclear Escalation Today: Deterrence, No First Use, or New Forms of Diplomacy?

Jyri Lavikainen, Researcher, Finnish Foreign Policy, Northern European Security and NATO Research Programme, Finnish Institute of International Affairs

Amy Nelson, Fellow, Foreign Policy, Strobe Talbott Center for Security, Strategy, and Technology, Brookings Institution

Guy Roberts, former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear, Chemical, and Biological Defense Programs

Tong ZHAO, Senior Fellow, Nuclear Policy Program, Carnegie China

Moderator: Christopher Daase, Professor of International Organization, Goethe University Frankfurt; Deputy Director, Peace Research Institute Frankfurt; Member, ACONA Executive Board

16:15-16:45

Closing Keynote: Modern Diplomacy and the Future of the Nuclear Order

Melissa Parke, Executive Director, International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN); former Minister for International Development, Commonwealth of Australia

16:45-17:00

Closing Remarks: Mariana Budjeryn, Senior Research Associate, Project on Managing the Atom, Belfer Center, Harvard Kennedy School, ACONA Associate and Auður Birna Stefánsdóttir, Program Manager at Höfði Reykjavík Peace Centre, ACONA Secretariat

17:00-18:00

Closing Reception