The OSCE Academy is represented at the International Day for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Awareness Event

On 7 March 2025 the Foreign Ministry of Kyrgyzstan in commemoration of the “International Day for Disarmament of and Non-Proliferation Awareness” organized an event: “From Awareness to Action: Engaging Youth in Disarmament and Non-proliferation”. It convened representatives of universities in Bishkek, including the OSCE Academy that was represented by Ms. Aruuke Chapyrashty and Ms. Saule Bargyeva, accompanied by the Director of the OSCE Academy, Dr. Pal Dunay.

The students and professors were welcomed by Mr. Asein Isaev, First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic. The session was chaired by Mr. Melis Mamadaliev, Director of the Department for International Organizations and Security of the MFA of Kyrgyzstan. UN Under-Secretary-General, High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, Ms. Izumi Nakamitsu sent a recorded video message to the meeting. Dr. William C. Potter, Director of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies in Monterey and Mr. Deepayan Basu Ray, Director of the UN Regional Center for Peace and Disarmament in Asia and the Pacific (UNRCPD) in Kathmandu held introductory lectures.

Dr. Potter emphasized on the positive side the slower than expected horizontal proliferation of nuclear weapons, reflected in the slow increase of nuclear weapon states from 5 when the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) was opened for signature in 1968 to 9, in 2025. However, on the negative side he also mentioned that in addition to Israel, India, Pakistan and North-Korea becoming de facto nuclear weapons states, the danger of nuclear terrorism has not been abolished and the potential to defect from the NPT has increased in the last few years.

Mr. Basu Ray emphasized that the 1.9 billion young people in the world can make an enormous difference in disarmament. If they are active and committed, it will be difficult for states to resist their quest. The young generation should decide whether they want to be rule makers, rule takers, or rule breakers. A lot depends on them.

Following the presentations, an intensive Q&A session followed, in which the students of the OSCE Academy actively participated as well. Ms. Aruuke Chapyrashty raised the question whether the military use of artificial intelligence as a danger is already addressed by disarmament negotiators. The answer made it clear that as AI is an enabler, it would be difficult to address it as an item in disarmament. It presents a further, though not insurmountable, problem that AI is mostly developed in the private sector. Ms. Saule Bargyeva asked whether nuclear weapons also contribute to keeping peace by stabilizing some inter-state relations. There the problem was identified with nuclear weapons and their proliferation causing significantly more problems in the world than providing solutions.

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