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Proposals to Strengthen the Nuclear Nonproliferation Regime |
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bridges vol. 12, December 2006 / OpEds & Commentaries
by Harold D. Bengelsdorf
Several developments over the last few years have suggested that the
global nuclear nonproliferation regime is starting to crack and that
the principal foundation of that regime, the Treaty on the
Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), needs to be supplemented by
new measures. North Korea's withdrawal from the NPT, its expulsion of
inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and its
recent test of a nuclear weapon have created fears that there may be a
dangerous nuclear arms race in Asia. Iran's clandestine acquisition of
uranium enrichment equipment and technology and its failure to accede
to the demands of the IAEA and the UN Security Council to cease its
sensitive nuclear activities and to cooperate with IAEA inspections are
also creating regional and global concerns. The network established by
the Pakistani A.Q. Khan to market uranium enrichment know-how and
nuclear weapons technology has reinforced fears that the proliferation
problem may become unmanageable. There has also been a deep-seated,
ongoing apprehension that sizeable stocks of nuclear-weapons-usable
materials existing in some countries, notably in the former Soviet
Union, are not subject to adequate physical protection and are thus
subject to theft or misuse. Moreover, many non-nuclear-weapon states
are deeply troubled that the nuclear-weapon states are not meeting
their obligations under the NPT to try to reduce the role of nuclear
weapons and ultimately eliminate them.
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Bioethics in the European Community’s Seventh Framework Program for RTD (2007–2013) |
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bridges vol. 12, December 2006 / OpEds & Commentaries
by Franz Pichler
Debate on both sides of the Atlantic
In recent years, the use of human embryonic stem cell research has been widely debated on both sides of the Atlantic (Pichler, 2005, 261-271). In July 2006 US President Bush vetoed the US Senate which had proposed more money for human embryonic stem cell research in the US (Der Standard, 20.7.2006).
About the same time, a fierce battle was going on in Europe regarding the use of Community money for human embryonic stem cell research. The European conflict was due to fierce lobbying from the Catholic Church, which was very restrictive in this matter. But this time Europe was moving ahead of the US.
How it could happen that Europe developed in such a different way?
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A European Way of Life? Forum in Innsbruck Examined Ways of Communicating European Issues |
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bridges vol. 12, December 2006 / OpEds & Commentaries
by Raoul Kneucker
The "American way of life" versus the "European way of life"? The
"American way" might be waning, but is the "European way" gaining?
Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik, EU council chairperson in
2006, insisted that something specifically European - similar to the
"American way of life" - would help to create a European identity and
would promote European emotions in shaping the rational and utilitarian
European politics. Her view is generally accepted. Having avoided or
neglected a discussion on values that would constitute a genuine
European Union - i.e., a "united" Europe "reconciled in diversity" -
the "Economic Community" having gradually been transformed into a
Political Union, cannot be transformed into something resembling a
Wertegemeinschaft [community of values] or a true European Union.
This
summer, a group of political science students that participated in the
seminar "Communicating Europe" at the Leopold Franzens University in
Innsbruck, Austria, decided to organize a public symposium to
specifically address the question of how European citizens perceive the
European Union and its policies. The symposium was well attended with
some 220 persons including Heinz Fischer, President of the Republic,
Herwig van Staa, the Tyrol governor, and the deans and the rector of
the university, and all participated in lively discussions throughout
the symposium.
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