In the Issue

• Global Leadership for the 21st Century
• Controlling and Securing Nuclear Materials
• Historic Steps for Nuclear Security
• Brazil and Its Global Agenda
• Disaster and Development

Features

Global Leadership for the 21st Century. In little more than a year, the G-20 has emerged as a vital summit-level forum for leaders to discuss international economic policy. This development, in turn, raises important questions about the future shape of the international system and multilateral cooperation. Read more in program officer David Shorr’s synopsis of two new Stanley Foundation policy analysis briefs that delve into the particular challenges of combining the informal consultations of the G groupings with classic multilateral institutions such as the United Nations.

Controlling and Securing Nuclear Materials.  President Obama’s Prague speech in April 2009 laid out his administration’s goal of securing all vulnerable nuclear material worldwide within four years. Given the heightened importance of this global effort, the Stanley Foundation convened approximately 35 governmental and nongovernmental officials in Washington on December 2, 2009, to examine practical steps toward meeting this goal. Participants included international leading experts and diplomats, in addition to ranking UN officials and US nongovernmental analysts. The group agreed on the importance of making nuclear security a higher global priority and that nuclear security challenges cannot be met without ongoing multilateral action. Participants also examined the role of the upcoming Nuclear Security Summit hosted by President Obama and that of the International Atomic Energy Agency in addressing the challenges. Read the full policy dialogue brief.

Historic Steps for Nuclear Security. President Obama seems to be celebrating the one-year anniversary of his speech in Prague, in which he laid out his nuclear agenda, with some major efforts to push the agenda forward. April comes with a number of new developments in nuclear security. Read more from program officer Jennifer Smyser about how the new US nuclear posture, a new arms treaty with Russia, and the upcoming Nuclear Security Summit contribute to nuclear security.

Beyond the Headlines

Brazil and Its Global Agenda. In mid-March, Brazilian President Luiz Ignacio Lula da Silva visited the Middle East on a five-day swing through Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinian Authority. The trip aptly symbolized the growing influence of a country whose recent rise in global stature is exceeded only by China and India. Behind the symbolism, of course, was the famously charismatic leader’s effort to exert Brazil’s diplomatic influence on some of the world’s most sensitive and prominent challenges. That effort has, in turn, prompted a nascent debate over Brazil’s global political role. Read the full article.

Disaster and Development. With reconstruction still under way in earthquake-devastated regions of Haiti and Chile, the disproportionate figures that have risen from each disaster expose some major gaps related to development. Despite Chile’s quake being roughly 500 times more powerful than the one that struck off the coast of Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s death toll was around 750 times higher. The cause of these seemingly inverse numbers has not gone unrecognized by the UN. In a March 19 opinion article published in Lebanon’s Daily Star UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon attributed the disparate casualties to each nation’s level of disaster preparedness. This means that lack of information and training may have caused as much devastation as poor building infrastructure. The secretary-general encourages citizens and governments of all levels to consult the Hyogo Framework set forth in the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR). The Secretariat also offers the online service Prevention Web, which provides risk profiles, disaster statistics, and lists national response platforms by country.