ATHENS, Ga. — Researchers at the University of Georgia’s Center for International Trade and Security are urging world leaders who meet this month at the G-8 Summit on Sea Island, Ga. to lay aside personal grudges and lingering tensions over Iraq to address issues related to proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
The key to this kind of diplomacy, according to CITS’ Associate Director Igor Khripunov, is to offer rewards that are sweet enough and blows that are painful enough to induce a change of behavior, particularly in governments such as Iran and North Korea who abet the proliferation of intelligence and technology used to build nuclear, biological and chemical weaponry.
Although the G-8 Summit meetings are better known for coordinating macroeconomic policy than for addressing security issues, CITS has raised 3 critical action items for the G-8 leaders:
Proliferation Security Initiative – the leaders must resolve critical questions surrounding the fledgling PSI effort to interdict WMD proliferation (See CITS special report on “The Proliferation Security Initiative: Promise and Performance.”)
Global Partnership Program – the G-8 leaders must invigorate the G-8 Global Partnership against the spread of weapons of mass destruction. (See CITS special report on this issue.)
Global Nonproliferation System – the G-8 leaders must work to reform and strengthen the unraveling nonproliferation treaty and regime. (See the Summer 2004 issue of the CITS Monitor.)
Khripunov and other scholars fear that the difficulties in Iraq and other issues will marginalize the WMD issue at the Sea Island Summit rather than agree on a plan that puts members’ potent diplomatic, economic, and military capabilities to work.
NOTE TO EDITORS: CITS reports and publications can be found at www.cits.uga.edu.