Unfold Zero Newsletter
Posted: 5th January 2024
UNFOLD ZERO Newsletter
UNFOLD ZERO wishes you a very happy new year and best wishes for 2024.
2023 has been a tough year for peace and nuclear disarmament issues. We hope that 2024 will become more peaceful with concrete progress on nuclear disarmament. We pledge to engage constructively with the United Nations and with all our contacts and supporters to help make this happen.
Our key programs in 2024 include LAW not War, the Climate-Peace-Nuclear Disarmament Nexus, preventing nuclear war, nuclear disarmament through common security and advancing peace and nuclear disarmament in key UN processes including the UN Summit of the Future.
Increasing the peace in 2024 – LAW not War
As indicated by the 2023 Global Peace Index Report, the world became less peaceful in 2023. The number of people killed in conflicts around the world in the past year was the highest it has been this century. More than half of the world’s countries (56%) were involved in external conflict in 2023, showing just how far conflict has become increasingly international.
This was a strong motivation for UNFOLD ZERO to agree to host the online platform for Legal Alternatives to War (LAW not War) which was launched in October 2023 by a coalition of seven co-sponsoring and sixty-eight participating organizations.
The focus of LAW not War is to advance better use of international courts and tribunals, especially the International Court of Justice (ICJ), to resolve conflicts, prevent war and assist in ending current armed conflicts.
In 2024, LAW not War will provide updates on ICJ cases and advocate for a broader acceptance of the ICJ’s jurisdiction (both generally and with respect to specific conflicts/issues). LAW not War will hold an online briefing and consultation for participating organizations and supporting individuals early in the new year (details to follow).
Importance of International Law and the ICJ
“From the smallest village to the global stage, the rule of law is all that stands between peace and stability and a brutal struggle for power and resources. I note the importance of accepting the compulsory jurisdiction of the Court and call on all Member States to do so without any reservations.”
Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary-General. Remarks to the UN Security Council Thematic Debate on the Rule of Law amongst Nations, January 12, 2023
Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary-General. Remarks to the UN Security Council Thematic Debate on the Rule of Law amongst Nations, January 12, 2023
Nuclear disarmament through Common Security
2023 was not a good year for nuclear disarmament. Nuclear weapons budgets rose. Support for nuclear deterrence increased in Europe as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine (see Nuclear policies since the Russian invasion) and in East Asia due to increased tensions and conflicts in the region. None of the nuclear armed or allied states joined the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. On the contrary, one non-nuclear country (Finland) joined a nuclear alliance (NATO) and four other countries are seeking to join (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Sweden and Ukraine).As we begin 2024, over 2/3rds of the worlds population live in countries that rely on nuclear deterrence as a core part of their security policy.
This increased reliance on nuclear weapons arises from a strengthening of the perception that nuclear deterrence provides security, especially from acts of aggression. Nuclear weapons will therefore continue to be a part of security doctrines until the nuclear armed and allied states can be confident that the security provided by nuclear deterrence is no longer necessary, or that it can be replaced by alternatives which are credible.
Common Security could provide credible alternatives to nuclear deterrence, and therefore make a vital contribution to building the framework for the peace and security of a nuclear-weapon-free world.
It was in this context that UNFOLD ZERO and our partner organizations launched the global Common Security platform in early 2023. We followed this in August 2023 with the release of Common Security v. Nuclear Weapons: How to replace the current reliance on nuclear deterrence with sustainable security for all, a joint statement endorsed by over 170 civil society organizations, which we presented to the NPT Prep Com at the United Nations in Vienna.
In 2024, UNFOLD ZERO will continue to work with partners to advance Common Security as an effective and viable alternative to nuclear deterrence to ensure national, regional and global security, and to pave the way for a nuclear-weapon-free world.
John Vlasto, Chair of the World Federalist Movement-Institute for Global Policy, presenting the joint statement Common Security v. Nuclear Weapons: How to replace the current reliance on nuclear deterrence with sustainable security for all to the Meeting of States Parties to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT Prep Com) at the UN in Vienna on August 2, 2023. About UNFOLD ZERO
UNFOLD ZERO is a platform for United Nations (UN) focused initiatives and actions for the achievement of a nuclear weapons free world. It’s an affiliated network of Abolition 2000 and a joint project of Aotearoa Lawyers for Peace, Basel Peace Office, Global Security Institute, Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament, PragueVision Institute for Sustainable Security, World Federalist Movement-Institute for Global Policy and World Future Council.