Join us in Veröld House of Vigdis in Reykjavik on Friday May 22 for the 5th annual ACONA Conference. This year’s theme, Negotiating Security Risks and Opportunities in the Era of AI will bring together leading experts and emerging voices to explore the critical intersections of technology, security, and diplomacy.

The event is open to all but please register here

For online participation please register here

Programme

09:30 - 09:50 Opening Remarks

Martin Eyjólfsson, Permanent Secretary of State, Ministry for Foreign Affairs

Pia Hansson, Member, ACONA Executive Board , Director of the Institute of International Affairs (Chair of the Conference)

09:50 - 10:50 Opening Talk: How Can Small States and Middle Powers Cooperate in Times of Geopolitical Eruptions

Clarissa Duvigneau, Ambassador of Germany to Iceland, Jenny Hill, Ambassador of Canada to Iceland and Ville Cantell, Ambassador of Finland to Iceland

Moderated by Ingólfur Bjarni Sigfússon, Correspondent at RÚV the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service

10:50 - 11:15 Coffee Break

11:15 - 12:15 History Discussion: 40 Years after the Reykjavík Summit: Can Adversaries Still Engage in Diplomacy?

Nancy Gallagher, Director, Center for International and Security Studies (CISSM), University of Maryland, Pavel Palazhchenko,Member, ACONA International Advisory Board, Former Personal Interpreter to President Mikhail Gorbachev, Senior Advisor, The Gorbachev Foundation, and Svetlana Savranskya, Director of Russia Programs, National Security Archive, George Washington University

Moderated by Christian Ostermann, Member, ACONA Executive Board, Professor of History, University of Maryland

12:15 - 13:00 Lunch

13:00 - 14:15 Focus Panel: Machines in the Loop: Will AI Stabilize or Destabilize Arms Control

Belén Bianco, Senior Project Advisor, United Nations Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNLIREC), Jules Palayer, Researcher, Governance of Artificial Intelligence Programme, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) and Jack Shanahan,Lieutenant General, U.S. Air Force, retired

Former Director, Joint Artificial Intelligence Center, U.S. Department of Defense

Moderated by Christopher Daase, Member, ACONA Executive Board, Deputy Director, Peace Research Institute Frankfurt (PRIF)

14:15 - 14:30 Coffee Break

14.30 - 15:30 ACONA Innovation Roundtable: Next-Generation Ideas for Arms Control

Mariana Budjeryn, Member, ACONA Executive Board, Senior Researcher, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Rose Gottemoeller (Commentator, online), Member, ACONA International Advisory Board, Former Deputy Secretary General, North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), Former U.S. Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, Sascha Hach, Managing Director, ACONA, Postdoctoral Researcher, Peace Research Institute Frankfurt (PRIF), Maria Rost Rublee, Professor of International Relations, University of Melbourne

ACONA Fellow #1: Negotiation Award Winner

ACONA Fellow #2: Policy Memo Award Winner

15:30 - 15:50 Closing Remarks

Arvid Bell, Chair, ACONA Executive Board, CEO, Anadyr Horizon

16:00 - 17.30 Closing Reception