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Did Russia test a weapon in space?
July 30, 2020On July 23, 2020, the United States Space Command Public Affairs Office released information claiming that on July 15, Russia “injected a new object [Object 45915] into orbit from Cosmos 2543” and “released this object in proximity to another Russian satellite.”
Report: From safety to security – extending outer space norms
July 30, 2020As part of a wider research project that is mapping the normative landscape in outer space with the aim of informing the further development of norms related to space-based military capabilities and activities, we invited global space experts to participate in a survey that was open from May 15 to June 10.
Space Security Cooperation: Changing Dynamics
June 22, 2020The security of outer space is a cooperative endeavor to achieve a shared benefit. Yet, while cooperation is essential for space security, it is often fraught. This chapter examines the logic for cooperation as an approach to space security, including supportive governance mechanisms, and traces the impetus and evolution of such efforts over time, marked by struggle to overcome strategic competition.
The Ploughshares Monitor: Summer 2020
June 16, 2020Volume 41 Issue 2 A quarterly publication of Project Ploughshares Please click on attachment to view document:
Canada’s half-decade mission in Iraq
June 16, 2020In the fall of 2014, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced Operation IMPACT, Canada’s military contribution to the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS. Approaching its sixth anniversary, Operation IMPACT is Canada’s most significant military operation since the war in Afghanistan.
We have important work to do during this time of crisis
June 16, 2020Even during a health crisis, the need to make headway on security threats relating to nuclear weapons, autonomous robots, and other concerns remains. Project Ploughshares is still conducting rigorous research, providing fact-based analysis and commentary, engaging stakeholders in and out of government, proposing policy alternatives, and communicating our findings to our constituencies and the general public.
Let’s lower the curtain on pandemic security theatre
June 16, 2020“Security theatre” is now being used to describe security measures that provide a false sense of safety by only seeming to address specific concerns. Typically expensive, such measures make life more difficult for ordinary people and actually decrease overall security by taking resources and attention away from effective responses. Moreover, some of these measures, like social profiling and the targeting of specific minority populations, can even pose dangers to human security if they are abused.
NPT Review Conference: A Worrying COVID-19 Casualty
June 16, 2020The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), widely considered the bedrock of the global nuclear disarmament regime, has not been immune to COVID-19. The latest in a series of Review Conferences (RevCon) of NPT states parties, which are held every five years, was to have taken place this past May at UN Headquarters in New York, but was postponed.
Who decides what our future on the Moon looks like?
June 16, 2020Even during a global pandemic, humans continue their journey back to the Moon. On May 30, the SpaceX Dragon Crew spacecraft, propelled by a Falcon 9 rocket, carried two NASA astronauts to the International Space Station. Years behind schedule, the first crewed launch of a private space vehicle was still a triumph.
What governments are using to contain COVID-19
June 16, 2020By early June, 38 countries had turned to a variety of technologies, including smartphone applications, location data analytics, wearable technologies, and even drones and unmanned ground vehicles to monitor the spread of COVID-19 and to control the behaviour of citizens during the pandemic. The use of some of this tech has raised concerns among civil libertarians.
Open letter re: Ottawa’s decision to lift moratorium on Saudi arms exports
May 15, 2020The Right Honourable Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, P.C., M.P. Prime Minister of Canada 80 Wellington Street Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A2 14 May 2020 Re: Final Report – Review of Export Permits to Saudi Arabia Dear Prime Minister Trudeau, The undersigned, representing a cross-section of Canadian civil society organizations focused on arms controls, human rights, and international security, are writing in ...
In-depth conversation: The Nuclear Ban Treaty
March 18, 2020Cesar Jaramillo talks with ICAN’s Tim Wright about the significance of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, its impact, and how close we are to a world without nuclear weapons.
Q&A: Mining social media for peace
March 17, 2020Evidence from social media is becoming essential to the study of modern conflict. Civilians and combatants are documenting war in real time, providing researchers with contemporary accounts, complete with photos and video.
How Canada can get up to speed on the ban on autonomous weapons
March 16, 2020Disarmament and arms control have not featured prominently, if at all, in mandate letters to Canada’s foreign ministers in many years. But at the end of 2019, Canadian Foreign Minister François-Philippe Champagne was given a new mandate to “advance international efforts to ban the development and use of fully autonomous weapons systems.”
Nobel Lecture: Forging a durable peace in the Horn of Africa
March 16, 2020We have an old saying: “yoo ollaan nagayaan bule, nagaan bulanni.” It is a saying shared in many African languages, which means, “For you to have a peaceful night, your neighbor shall have a peaceful night as well.” The essence of this proverb guides the strengthening of relations in the region. We now strive to live with our neighbors in peace and harmony.
The role of the U.S. Space Force in the future of warfare in outer space
March 16, 2020The United States Space Force is taking shape. A uniform of camouflage fatigues and an insignia that looks like something from Star Wars have been designed. A contest is under way to name its troops (both “space cadets” and “spacemen” are off the table). There are suggestions that the Force will be modeled after the U.S. Navy.