Event Recap: A Vibe Check on Space Security Diplomacy

Monday, October 30, 2023

On October 26, SWF held a webinar to discuss what happened during the recent United Nations Open-Ended Working Group (OEWG) on “Reducing space threats through norms, rules and principles of responsible behaviours,” why it was important, and what the next steps might be. SWF Director of Space Security and Stability Programs Ms. Victoria Samson moderated a panel of experts featuring Almudena Azcarate Ortega from the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR), Cláudio Medeiros Leopoldino from the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Dr. Jessica West from Project Ploughshares. They provided a recap of the OEWG, why it represented a significant positive change in how space security is discussed within the UN, and also the uncertainty about where that discussion goes from here.

Following the panel, SWF Director of Program Planning Dr. Brian Weeden had a discussion with Ching Wei Sooi on his research this past summer with the Swiss Existential Risk Initiative (CHERI) into why countries supported, or did not support, the recent UN General Assembly resolution supporting broader international adoption of the DA-ASAT missile testing moratorium. Ching Wei gave a short presentation summarizing his report released today by SWF with support from CHERI. 

The event concluded with a short overview of new several products SWF has released related to these topics: a new Fact Sheet on the OEWG on Reducing Space Threats as well as a tracking sheet on support for multilateral space security initiatives, including the No First Placement Pledge, first introduced by the Russian Federation in 2004, and the DA-ASAT Testing Moratorium, which was first introduced by the United States in 2022.

For more information, please see the event page.