IRSD-KHID-RHID

Signed in Prague on 8 April 2010 by the American and Russian presidents and entered into force on 5 February 2011, the New START Treaty marked the resumption (“reset”) of the American-Russian strategic dialogue after the arms control vacuum left by George W. Bush’s two successive terms in office. More symbolic than ambitious, this treaty had as its main objective to revive the dynamics of the major security regimes. Bound to expire on 5 February this year, it was finally extended in extremis after a period of serious tension and uncertainty between the parties concerned.

Beyond the renewal of the New START Treaty, the future of all major arms control and reduction agreements as well as confidence- and security-building measures is now in question. Over the past twenty years, many agreements establishing security regimes between the major powers have fallen victim to the deterioration of strategic relations. One need only think of the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty, the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe or, more recently, the fate of the Treaty on Open Skies. Developed in the context of the Cold War and in the period following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, these agreements embodied a cooperative vision of security that, while not excluding certain forms of diplomatic and strategic ulterior motives, had the merit of building a “common grammar” between states.

Legitimate questions now surround the future of these security regimes in a context marked by a new arms race in the field of emerging technologies (AI, cyber capabilities, hypersonic and hyper-manoeuvring missiles).

In order to discuss these issues, we will be pleased to welcome Dr Matthew Harries, Senior Research Fellow in the “Proliferation and Nuclear Policy” programme at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), and Mr Pavel Podvig, Senior Research Fellow on Weapons of Mass Destruction and Other Strategic Weapons at the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR).

Online evening conference

The NEW START Treaty
and the Future of Security Regimes

Dr Matthew HARRIES
Mr Pavel PODVIG

Moderator: Alain De Neve

Language: English

22 April 2021, 17:00 – 18:30
> From 16:00 – Registration –
connection to online conference
> 17:00 – Conference and Q & A

Conference videos:
> Doctor Matthew HARRIES
> Mr Pavel PODVIG