THE CANBERRA COMMISSION ON THE ELIMINATION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS

The Commissioners

Celso Amorim

Ambassador Amorim was Brazilian Foreign Minister from 1993-1994, and Lecturer, Department of Political Science and International Relations, University of Brasilia. He was Ambassador to the Conference on Disarmament, Geneva, 1991-1993. He is currently Brazil's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, New York.

Lee Butler

General (Ret.) Butler was Commander in Chief of the US Strategic Air Command (1991-1992) and subsequently the US Strategic Command (1992-1994) with responsibility for all US Air Force and Navy nuclear deterrent forces. He was closely involved in the development of US nuclear doctrine.

Richard Butler (Convenor)

Ambassador Butler was Australia's Ambassador for Disarmament from 1983-1988 and led the Australian Delegation to the Conference on Disarmament. He is now Australia's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, New York.

Michael Carver

Field Marshal Lord Carver was Commander in Chief Far East of the British Army (1967-1969), Chief of General Staff (1971-1973), and Chief of Defence Staff (1973-1976). He is author of A Policy for Peace (1982), on nuclear policy, and numerous other works on military history.

Jacques-Yves Cousteau

Captain Cousteau, writer, film producer and former naval officer, has been for many years a leading international campaigner on environmental and global survival issues. He is a former President of the French Council for the Rights of Future Generations established by President Mitterrand in 1993.

Jayantha Dhanapala

Ambassador Dhanapala chaired the 1995 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review and Extension Conference, represented his country in the Conference on Disarmament as Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations, Geneva (1984-1987), and is a former Director of the UN Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR). He is a prominent figure in international nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament issues and is currently Sri Lanka's Ambassador to the United States.

Rolf Ekeus

Ambassador Ekeus is Executive Chairman, United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM), whose mandate is to identify and eliminate Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. He is a former Swedish Ambassador for Disarmament and Ambassador to the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE).

Nabil Elaraby

Ambassador Elaraby is a specialist international lawyer and a member of the International Law Commission. He has been a key figure in nuclear non-proliferation matters for many years, and was formerly Permanent Representative of Egypt to the United Nations, Geneva (1987-1991). He is currently Permanent Representative of Egypt to the United Nations, New York.

Ryukichi Imai

Professor Imai is a Counsellor to the Atomic Energy Commission of Japan and a Professor at Kyorin University. He is a former Ambassador of Japan to the Conference on Disarmament (1982-1987), to Kuwait and to Mexico. He has been a Distinguished Scholar and a member of the Board of the Institute for International Policy Studies. Professor Imai is an author of numerous books and articles mainly on nuclear energy, non-proliferation and disarmament matters. He received a Dr. Eng in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Tokyo. He is a member of the International Governing Board of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

Ronald McCoy

Datuk McCoy is Vice President of the Asia Pacific Region and Chairman of the Malaysian Chapter of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War. This organisation won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1985. He is currently President of the Malaysian Medical Association.

Robert McNamara

Mr McNamara was Secretary of Defense under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson. He is a former President of the Ford Motor Company and the World Bank. Since leaving the World Bank he has been active in economic and development efforts across the globe and in the areas of arms control and nuclear non-proliferation.

Robert O'Neill

Professor O'Neill is Chichele Professor of the History of War, All Souls College, Oxford University and was formerly Director, International Institute of Strategic Studies, London.

Qian Jiadong

Ambassador Qian is a member of the National Committee and Vice- Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. Previously, he was Deputy Director- General of the China Centre for International Studies, Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva, Ambassador for Disarmanent Affairs and Representative to the Conference on Disarmament.

Michel Rocard

M. Rocard was Prime Minister of France 1988-1991. He is now a member of the European Parliament and the French Senate, and a member of the Foreign Affairs and Defence Commission in each.

Joseph Rotblat

Professor Rotblat, winner of the 1995 Nobel Peace Prize, is President of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs and a long standing activist and writer on nuclear disarmament. He worked on the atom bomb during World War II in Liverpool and Los Alamos and was a signatory of the Russell-Einstein Manifesto. He is Emeritus Professor of Physics at St Bartholomew's Hospital, University of London.

Roald Sagdeev

Professor Sagdeev is Distinguished Professor, Department of Physics, University of Maryland and Director of the East-West Space Science Centre. He has held the post of Director of the Space Research Institute of the USSR Academy of Sciences and was former President Gorbachev's science adviser. From 1987-1988 Professor Sagdeev was Chairman of the Committee of Soviet Scientists for Global Security.

Maj Britt Theorin

Dr Theorin has been a Member of the European Parliament since 1995 and is a former Member of Parliament in Sweden (1971-1995). She is a former Swedish Ambassador for Disarmament, in charge of Swedish disarmament policy (1982-1991). She is President of the International Peace Bureau and President of Parliamentarians for Global Action. She was Chairman of the UN Commission of Experts on Nuclear Weapons (1989-1990), Chairman of the UN Study on Military and the Environment (1990-1991) and Chairman of the UN Expert Group on Women and the Agenda for Peace 1994.

Acknowledgements

The Commission received encouragement and assistance from a wide range of sources. Background papers on issues relevant to the report were prepared by Alexei Arbatov (Deputy Chair of the Defense Committee, State Duma of the Russian Federation), Eric Arnett (SIPRI), Frank Blackaby (former Director of SIPRI), Barry M. Blechman and Cathleen S. Fisher (Henry L. Stimson Center), James Crawford and Philippe Sands (University of Cambridge and the University of London respectively), Jonathan Dean (Union of Concerned Scientists), John P. Holdren (University of California), James Leonard (Washington Council on Non-Proliferation), Andrew Mack (Australian National University), Michael MccGwire (University of Cambridge), Marvin Miller (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Janne E. Nolan (Brookings Institution), Christopher E. Paine, Thomas B. Cochran and Robert S. Norris (Natural Resources Defense Council), Tariq Rauf (Monterey Institute of International Studies), Leonard S. Spector (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace) and Ramesh Thakur (Australian National University). These papers will be published separately.

Valuable comments on the Verification Annex were provided by Bruno Pellaud, Mohamed ElBaradei and Rich Hooper of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Patricia M. Lewis of the Verification Technology Information Centre and Theodore B. Taylor. Commissioners also noted the paper 'Verifying Nuclear Disarmament' by Steve Fetter of the University of Maryland.

Thanks are due to Dr Hans Blix, Director General, International Atomic Energy Agency, and his senior staff for meeting Commissioners to discuss verification issues.

The Commission met four times - twice in Australia, once in the United States and once in Austria. Staff at the meeting venues were of great assistance to the Commission, particularly at the Harrison Conference Center at Glen Cove, NY and the proprietors of the Schlosshotel Obermayerhofen, Sebersdorf, Austria, Mr and Mrs Kottulinsky.

The Commission welcomed the opportunity to meet with the Austrian State Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Dr Benita Ferrero-Waldner. It deeply appreciated the Austrian Government's generous contribution toward costs of the Sebersdorf meeting.

The Commission gratefully acknowledges the support of the Australian Government, the support and work of the Secretariat and staff at Australia's overseas missions, without which this report would not have been possible. While the Commission was established by the Australian Government the views expressed in this report are those of the Commission alone, and should not be understood as representing, necessarily, attitudes or policies of the Australian Government.

Secretariat

A secretariat was established within the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to support the Commission.

Rory Steele (Head of the Secretariat)
Roger Hodgkins
John Page
Louise Holgate
Chui Fong Yap
Rory Medcalf
Julie McDonald (Media Liaison)

A number of other Australian officials assisted the Commission, in particular Mr Kim Jones, Deputy Secretary, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Mr Ian Cousins, First Assistant Secretary, International Security Division, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Dr Ron Huisken, Assistant Secretary, North America and Intelligence Branch, Department of Defence.

Proposition One