[inaudible conversations] good morning ladies and gentlemen. Good morning and welcome to the 2017 Arms Control Association annual meeting. I aim the executive director of the Arms Control Association, and as most of you know we are an independent nonpartisan Membership Organization established in 1971 and dedicated to reducing and eliminating the threat posed by the worlds most dangerous weapons which would of course be Nuclear Chemical biological weapons as well as certain conventional weapons that pose particular harm and risks to civilians. You can find out more about the association, its history, its ongoing work coming in to get more information and analysis about these issues to the website armscontrol. Org and you can follow us at arms control now. The latest issue of the journal arms control today just went online so you can check that out there and also the resources on the armscontrol lap which is simply armscontrol on all of the stores. We are grateful to see so many of you here. Members, friends, colleagues from the diplomatic community, journalists, and we welcome those of you that are with us watching on cspan. And for those of you following on social media, but better handle for todays event to be part of the conversation is armscontrol 17. So, the theme of this years meeting is arms control and nonproliferation restraint at risk and they are. We are facing in serious ways unprecedented challenges this year in the task to reduce the nuclear danger. The bedrock of all nonproliferation efforts face serious implementation challenges. We have key commitments and obligations that are unfulfilled and thats led many of the states to begin negotiations on a treaty to prohibit Nuclear Weapons and we will talk more about that later today. With the deterioration of the u. S. Russian relations the treaties including the new strategic arms reduction treaty are at risk and worse still all of the worlds Major Nuclear armed states are either arms states are either replacing, upgrading or in some cases expanding their nuclear arsenals. And last but not least unless we can work with our allies to engage north korea in the talks to reverse the Nuclear Missile pursued in its capabilities will become more dangerous in the years ahead. So how the United States will respond to these challenges and whether the United States continues to provide leadership is not entirely clear and that is part of what we will be talking about today. President trump has made statements that concern the allies and hes made statements about expanding the u. S. Nuclear capabilities. Hes been highly critical of some agreements like the new treaty and the iran nuclear deal. So, its been a great lineup of speakers and experts and panelists to address these issues. We are especially happy to have later today tha the senior white house adviser, Christopher Ford during the lunch hour and the representative who is going to be closing of the conference with perspectives from the International Immunity and the United Nations. But before we move to the first part of the program, i just want to give a brief bit of thanks and a shout out to some of the individual members and contributors that made todays event possible. Some of their names are on the table here at the Carnegie Endowment for National Peace and thats important because we are a Small Organization and we try to have a big impact but it means your donations make a huge difference and in response to these challenges, we are gratified that our members have responded over the last few months. We have seen an uptick in contributions at this important time. So we are very happy to have several organizations and individuals help with contributions for this conference including our colleague the Peace Foundation which is committed to a world free of Nuclear Weapons and our partners at the agents of change in support of disarmament and peace and our individual sponsors for todays event and the members of the Arms Control Association that wish to remain anonymous. Thanks to you all and everyone here. We cant do it without you. And we also cannot make progress on these issues without leaders and arms control and that is why ten years ago we launched the armscontrol person of the year award. We felt that it was important to recognize the work of key individuals who in various ways in different parts of the world have catalyzed awareness and action to deal with these weapons related challenges each year the staff and the board of directors nominate several individuals about ten to a dozen that we think have provided notable leadership in the previous year. And then we put it all to an online vote and the top because the armscontrol person of the year. So it is an imperfect process perhaps, but so far the elections have been free of any cyber hacking and we think it is a free and fair process that is about as undemocratic as it may be. The republic of the Marshall Islands and the former minister of the Marshall Islands according to the highest number of votes for 2016 are the armscontrol persons of the year over 1,850 people from 63 countries participated in the voting this year back in december, and that is a record for this contest. The winners were nominated and are being recognized for the legal case against the Nuclear Armed states for failing to meet their obligations to initiate Nuclear Disarmament and its also important to remember the republican Marshall Islands and the people there were subjected to 67 u. S. Atmospheric Nuclear Test Explosions from 1946 to 1958. Tony, who accepted the invitation to come here to fly all the way from his home in the South Pacific is unable to be with us due to Health Difficulties and the republic of the Marshall Islands ambassador is out of washington on official business. So weve asked the executive director of the Lawyers Committee on th Nuclear Policy a member of the legal team that brought the suit to say a few words about tony and the significance of the case in the larger scheme of things, so john, thanks for being with us to explain the importance. [applause] in bringing the Nuclear Disarmament cases before the International Court of justice, the Marshall Islands and its been foreign minister showed courage and determination rooted in tragic experience. They also showed good faith in seeking the solutions. Tony and the Marshall Islands have shown similar courage and determination in confronting climate change. Tony played a catalytic role of the negotiations that yielded the paris climate agreement in december of 2015. He helped bring together a Large Coalition of nations that strengthened the agreement and perhaps even made it possible. So in light of the developments yesterday, i think that i should quote a couple of things that the coalition has said. The president s intention to withdraw from the agreement while todays decision will have grave impacts, we must not give up hope. The high and coalition convened by the Marshall Islands also released a statement for people around the world most vulnerable to climate change, the Paris Agreement represents the best hope for survival. The armscontrol persons of the year award of course was about arms control. We were of course very disappointed that last fall by the narrow margins the International Court of justice decided not to adjudicate the Nuclear Disarmament cases on the merits. However, simply bringing the cases raised the worlds attention that failure of the powers to fill the obligation to negotiate and reach the global elimination of Nuclear Weapons, that is what the court said in its 1996 advisory opinion. For those of you who like to dig into things, they are also a Rich Resource for the development of the political and legal arguments for disarmament. In the memorial in the uk case, the team argued the merits and that is how the case unfolded. So as mentioned from 1946 and 1958 the u. S. Conducted 67 tests in the Marshall Islands and included the First Hydrogen bomb test and infamous test of 195415 megatons, 1,000 times the size of the nagasaki bombs. Tony was a 9yearold boy fishing in the canoe with his grandfather when he witnessed the test 200 miles away. The sky turned blood red and he told the International Court of justice in march of 2016. However, the Marshall Islands cases before the International Court of justice were not about compensation for the effects of testing. When the cases were filed in april of 2014, tony said our people have suffered catastrophic and irreversible damage of these weapons and we vow to fight so that no one else on earth will ever again experienced these atrocities. Tony also said in accepting the 2015 right livelihood award i have seen with my own eyes the Nuclear Devastation and i know with conviction that Nuclear Weapons must never again be visited upon humanity. This is not just an issue of treaty commitments or international law, though it is that and not just an issue of ethics or morality though is that, too. This is an issue of common sense. How could any common person walking down the street ever commit to possession or use of such weapons . So i think the Marshall Islands and tony richly deserved this award and i think the Arms Control Association very much for arranging it. [applause] i want to ask you to help us get this to the Marshall Islan islands. Thanks a lot. Ischemic and thank you, john, for helping to explain and remind us about the humanitarian impacts of the work that we are discussing today and the interconnectedness of these issues for all of the inhabitants. Now, it is time to turn to the first panel of the day, which is the Nuclear Nonproliferation treaty in the west end and talks to this report. I would like to ask the three panelists to come up to the podium. We will make a quick transition. As they come up to the stage with go to suzanne was selected to join the board of directors and suzanne among other accomplishments was the head of the u. S. Delegation to the successful 2010 Nuclear Nonproliferation treaty review conference. With that, the floor is yours and we will begin. The first panel today is going to tackle the challenges facing the Nuclear Nonproliferation treaty as it approaches the anniversary of the entry into the 2020 review conference. Leading towards the totally on a show. Challenges are not new and the pursuit to strengthen its implementation is ongoing. The negotiations on the band are the results of International Frustration over the pace of the progress on the Nuclear Disarmament pursuant to articles. This frustration has fueled deepening concerns about the humanitarian consequences of Nuclear Weapons use among many nations in civil societies. Supporters of the ban treaty believe it will fill a gap in to give a boost to the disarmament in the way that complements but not competes. Another group is insisting that there progressive approach to the Nuclear Disarmament has been and remains a way to reduce existing arsenal. This morning, we will hear from the diplomats and experts on the subject. There was a brief biography of each in the program. Tom countrymen served as the acting under secretary for International Security and simultaneously as the assistant secretary for International Security and nonproliferation where i have the honor of working for him. The permanent representative to the United Nations of new york was the director general of Political Affairs in the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and served in a number of other government positions. We will surface of the ambassador with the possible shape of the new prohibition or ban treaty and then mr. Countrymen on the convention to address the intersection of the ban. After about 15 minutes of remarks we will open the floor to the question and without further to rival start off with the ambassador. I would rather save time for qanda. I am a diplomat but not the chief negotiator. I just want to explain a little bit to you. After the initiative this is our general approach. [inaudible] it has a built up in frustration [inaudible] after acquiring the Nuclear Weapons speed to sew the feeling that there needed to be another element so that [inaudible] in 2010 there was also a mention of the consequences and based on that there were the top experts. To be honest i was shocked to learn the dangers of Nuclear Weapons are graver than even i was aware of and a lot of us are aware of and somehow this was under the carpet of the new danger to each and every one of the Nuclear Weapons or [inaudible] if anything happened we would yield the consequences. So it was shocking details and one of them i like to cite because of the potential of the weapon [inaudible] the danger of the children to die was higher than a car accident. And we were just lucky nothing had happened, human error. We are playing russian roulette. Why would we want to continue that so it is not by coincidence unfortunately it yielded no results or willingness to to fulfill their obligation. Its also an obligation on article six has overwhelming support. The [inaudible] alliance is in the weapon states and working against and lobbying against. For us it is the nonproliferation treaty that is the cornerstone of the nuclear are a. We have had other instruments to complement the comprehensive test ban treaty. These are all complimentary to the goal of getting rid of all Nuclear Weapons in the first general resolution getting rid of other weapons of mass destruction. It is a good instrument into the argument we always hear is a [inaudible] even though it was not universal we believe that our endeavor could add an important element. Thank you very much. As the microphone that . It is an honor to be here with you and especially to be with the Arms Control Association for the annual meeting. Among the many public issues the American People have to be ready to discuss and raise their own consciousness armscontrol threats of nuclear biological and chemical weapons have to be near the top so its important for all of us in this room to go beyond and. As i started jotting down ideas a couple weeks ago i read an article about the Draft Convention to prohibit Nuclear Weapons and if you have 15 minutes it is better spent but we are already seated so we will go ahead. Just a few words first about the nonproliferation treaty that is the cornerstone of the global nonproliferation regime. There is disappointment that the goals of the treaty havent been achieved and that frustration merits of th the analysis and discourse and pressure on the state to move faster and realized the commitments that they have made. What is not sensible is a treaty itself and what makes no sense is to say that the Nuclear Nonproliferation treaty is the problem aiming at the wrong target. And i think that the current review process is at risk of being confused with the treaty itself. There is no question the fiveyear review cycle is a matter of great frustration to diplomats whose professional specialization is Nuclear Disarmament and its not difficult to get 187 countries to com180 somecountries to comee consensus on a final document. That frustrates those who see there ought to be better reports on the commitments made by both nuclear and non Nuclear Weapons states on the progress theyve made but a couple of points about the process, and unhealthy processed and overly ambitious and overly contentious review process and its one thing but it doesnt mean it is failing. It continues to be in my view the single history to every