Stability of nuclear and conventional deterrence between major rivals is one of the important elements of international security. It is widely believed that it helped avoid a large-scale war by allowing the political and military leaderships to better plan foreign and defense policy, avert undesired conflicts, and control the arms race while maintaining the ability to adequately respond to the attack of the opponent. However, a host of recently emerged technologies, some of which have not yet reached maturity, are already affecting the stability of traditional deterrence relationships between the West and Russia and now also between the West and China.
The VCDNP Deterrence and Emerging Technologies (DET) Webinar Series explored the impact of these new technologies on the stability of deterrence as well as the opportunities some new technologies can offer for arms control and confidence building measures. The series consisted of the following six webinars held every Wednesday from 29 September to 3 November 2021.
On 29 September 2021, the VCDNP held a webinar with Dr. Andrew Futter to discuss the impact of emerging technologies on the stability of deterrence. This webinar inaugurated the DET Webinar Series organised with the support of the Austrian Ministry for European and International Affairs.
On 6 October, 2021 the VCDNP held the second webinar in the DET Series devoted to discussion of how developments in cyber domain affect deterrence. The panel of speakers included: Dr. Melissa K. Griffith, Senior Program Associate at the Wilson Center’s Science and Technology Innovation Program; Mr. Oleg Shakirov, Consultant of the PIR Center; and Dr. Beyza Unal, Deputy Director of the International Security Program at Chatham House.
On 13 October 2021 the VCDNP held the third webinar in the DET Webinar Series, devoted to the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on capabilities related to situational awareness, as well as nuclear command, control and communications. The panel of speakers included Dr. Ingvild Bode (Associate Professor of International Relations, Centre for War Studies, University of Southern Denmark) and Dr. James Johnson (Lecturer in Strategic Studies, Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Aberdeen).
On 20 October 2021 the VCDNP held the fourth webinar in the DET Webinar Series, devoted to the ethical and legal considerations about the military application of artificial intelligence (AI). The panel of speakers included Ambassador Thomas Hajnoczi (Former Director for Disarmament, Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs of the Republic of Austria), Dr. Frank Sauer (Senior Research Fellow, Universität der Bundeswehr München) and Ms. Laura Bruun (Research Assistant, Emerging Technologies, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute).
On 27 October 2021 the Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation (VCDNP) held the fifth webinar in the Deterrence and Emerging Technologies (DET) Webinar Series, which featured Research Fellow at the Institute of World Economy and International Relations Dmitry Stefanovich.
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On 3 November 2021, the Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation (VCDNP) held the sixth and final webinar in the Deterrence and Emerging Technologies (DET) Webinar Series, devoted to new tools for arms control, transparency and confidence building. The panel of speakers included Dr. Alexander Graef (Researcher, Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy), Ms. Veronika Bedenko, (Analyst, Open Nuclear Network) and Mr. William M. Moon (Nonresident Fellow, Stimson Center and former Global Nuclear Security Program Manager for Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) programmes with Russia, China, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan from 1992 to 2014).
Featured image courtesy of Geralt, Wikimedia Commons, originally on Pixabay.
