Interview with Oliver Welch, a Member of the CNCP Joint Steering Group and representative of the British Ministry of Defense

Is there any interaction, such as exchange of experience, between the different British Global Threat Reduction Programmes? Do you see this as useful?

We cooperate at the level of the top-management of the Ministries, participating in different Joint Steering groups. For instance, I, apart from CNCP, am also a member of another steering committee.

Sharing experience is, certainly, useful, particularly on a much broader scale, since even programmes not directly involved in non-proliferation can benefit from CNCP’s activity, for example, in areas such as antiterrorism and initiatives to address the threat of terrorism. These are mostly US initiatives, which are now being joined by other countries. Specific tasks in this area were developed independently, but the connection with nonproliferation is evident, and when conferences and events devoted to counter-terrorism are held, specialists from other programmes, which are similar to ours, are invited to share their experience in the area of non-proliferation.

For instance, a conference will soon be held, the main goal of which will be to encourage scientists to thoroughly analyze what they publish and report at conferences, to prevent disclosure of sensitive information, which might be used for terrorist purposes. This potential risk has never occurred to some scientists, who have never dealt with non-proliferation or counter-terrorism.

Why do you think that it was Great Britain of all the European countries, which tackled this nuclear nonproliferation issue in the former Soviet Union? Why is Great Britain one of the leaders in this field?

The answer is very simple. We are combating potential threats from terrorism; therefore we need to take appropriate actions. I am sure the Russians understand this also, as Russia is a large country which faces a variety of threats.

As a responsible nuclear power, Great Britain needs to show that it is accountable and responsible in addressing global security issues, and I believe that we are doing so.

What do you think about the presentations you have heard at the conference and about the CNCP Programme in general?

What I have learned from this conference is a much greater appreciation of how the CNCP Programme is valued in each of the closed cities. It is very encouraging and it gives a stimulus for further work. It is very good to see so many senior executives from the cities here.

We, in London, know how successful CNCP is as one of the Programmes within the Global Partnership. When our Ministers are discussing G8 activities, they often cite this Programme as an example of the most effective and efficient Programme, particularly when the UK Foreign Office wants to demonstrate the UKs’ contribution to the Global Partnership to ministers from foreign countries.

I believe CNCP is a wonderful demonstration of effective cooperation between Great Britain and Russia.