Russian Pugwash Committee blog

SYP UK Peace Workshops March 2021 // Registration open!

February 18, 2021
Throughout March, SYP UK will hold a series of online workshops to explore opportunities for international co-operation, arms control and peace in 2021 and beyond.



Russia and the West: Opportunities for co-operation?
Wed 10th March // 2pm GMT (UK) // Register here

Speakers include:


  • Marion Messner (BASIC, UK) – ‘Trust building between Russia and US: a necessary precondition for future cooperation’


  • Segei Rastoltsev (IMEMO, Russia) – ‘Post-Soviet Space Protracted Conflicts in the Russia-West Security Relations’


  • William Moon (Simson Center, USA) – ‘Cooperative Nuclear Weapons Reductions – A New Paradigm to Roll Back Nuclear Weapons and Increase Security and Stability’


Cyber and digital technologies in warfare – Responsibility & control
Wed 17th March // 5pm GMT (UK) // Register here

Speakers include:


  • Shira Cohen (Israel SYP) – ‘Cyber arms race: From War Zones to Agreements’


  • Dr Lyndon Burford (KCL, UK) – ‘Blockchain in nuclear arms control verification’


  • Natalya Samoylovskaya (Russian SYP) - ‘Opportunities and challenges for EU and Russia cooperation in AI research and development’


The Nuclear Ban Treaty (TPNW) – Successes, values and omissions
Wed 24th March // 3pm GMT (UK) // Register here

Speakers include:


  • Dr Rebecca Johnson (ICAN UK) - 'The Treaty and the campaign'


  • Ekaterina Lapanovich (Ural Federal University, Russia) - 'The Quest for Change: Nuclear Deterrence, Nuclear Norms and the Nuclear Ban'


  • Virginia Marie Kerr (Middlebury Institute of International Studies, USA) - 'Atomic Erasure: Visibility and Inclusion in the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons Weapons'


Nuclear arms control in 2021 and beyond
Wed 24th March // 5pm GMT (UK) // Register here

Speakers include:


  • Ezra Friedman (International SYP) – ‘The JCPOA 2.0 Conundrum’


  • Harry Spencer (Leicester University, UK) – Strategic Dilemmas for Nuclear Arms Control in the “New Era of Counterforce”


  • Kanica Rakhra (Indian Ministry of External Affairs) – ‘Talking Past Each Other: Track 1 Nuclear Initiatives’