Athens, Ga. – Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency and recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize will be among leading security experts speaking on a panel entitled “Opportunities and Challenges: Nuclear Renaissance, Disarmament, Terrorism and Proliferation” on Wednesday, March 18 at 10:00 a.m. in Masters Auditorium at the Georgia Center for Continuing Education Conference Center and Hotel.
The panel, which is free and open to the public, is part of a one-day event commemorating the 20th anniversary of UGA’s Center for International Trade and Security. Bringing together national and international security experts, along with CITS researchers, the conference will reflect on the center’s past 20 years and will address strategic challenges and opportunities regarding proliferation and international security. The event is being made possible by the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
“The 10 a.m. panel is a powerhouse addressing some of the critical nuclear security issues of our time,” said Gary Bertsch, CITS director.
“Mohamed ElBaradei is an international statesman and official on nuclear security, and joining him on the panel are three prominent experts, General Eugene Habiger, former Commander in Chief of all U.S. nuclear forces, Joseph Cirincione, leading U.S. nonproliferation advocate and President of the Ploughshares Fund, and Igor Khripunov, former Gorbachev adviser and Russian arms control expert.”
Since its inception, CITS has been devoted to research, teaching and outreach on issues related to international trade and security. CITS is highly regarded around the world for its research on nonproliferation export controls-the laws, regulations, and enforcement arrangements that keep the components of nuclear, biological or chemical weapons from falling into the hands of terrorists and countries of concern.
Succeeding Hans Blix, ElBaradei was appointed to the position of director general at the International Atomic Energy Agency in 1997. The IAEA is an intergovernmental organization affiliated with the United Nations that works for the safe, secure and peaceful uses of nuclear science and technology.
In October 2005, ElBaradei and the IAEA were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize “for their efforts to prevent nuclear energy from being used for military purposes and to ensure that nuclear energy for peaceful purposes is used in the safest possible way.” In its citation, the Norwegian Nobel Committee referred to the IAEA’s work as being of “incalculable importance,” and referred to ElBaradei as an “unafraid advocate” of new measures to strengthen the nuclear non-proliferation regime.
ElBaradei is the recipient of numerous awards. In addition to his participation in CITS’ anniversary events, he will be on campus to receive the 2009 Delta Prize for Global Understanding. For more information on the Delta Prize, see http://uga.edu/news/deltaprize/.
For more information regarding the CITS anniversary events, see http://www.uga.edu/cits/.
