Nuclear security advocacy following the nuclear security summits

Abstract

In 2016, as the Nuclear Security Summit (NSS) process was gearing up for what would clearly be its final leader-level event, its members had a problem. The NSS summits had identified five organizations and initiatives which together represented the locus of forward policy and programming action: the United Nations (UN), the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Interpol, the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism (GICNT), and the G7-led Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction (GP). They also had enumerated actions the group felt that each organization could take to nurture the nuclear security agenda. The multidimensional character of international policy advocacy presents an enormous logistical and policy challenge for all informal “friends” groups, and the Contact Group was no exception. Contact Group members realized early on that their task would be much more complex than the simple identification of next steps for a series of willing audiences.