Oxford Martin School

23 Oct 2009

On Thursday 22 October, Sir Malcolm Rifkind MP, former Foreign Secretary and Secretary of State for Defence, gave a presentation at the 21st Century School as part of our Michaelmas Term seminar series on "Getting to Zero". Sir Malcolm, a leading spokesman for the Global Zero campaign to eliminate nuclear weapons, outlined some key issues concerning nuclear disarmament, arguing that any action taken towards this would need to be multilateral, not unilateral.

Achieving an end-state of "zero" has emerged as an important policy goal for a number of 21st century challenges. Co-hosted by the James Martin 21st Century School and the Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict, the "Getting to Zero" seminar series offers leading thinkers and practitioners from around the world the opportunity to consider what "zero" would mean to their field. The next lecture in the series will be given by Professor Tony Venables, of Oxford University, who will speak on the topic: "Bottom billion or bottom zero? Policies for international poverty reduction". For more information, please see our events page.

Sir Malcolm's seminar sparked an animated debate, you can read more about the event, and contribute to the ongoing debate on the 21School Blog.

Related Links and Resources

• Getting to Zero Seminar Series
• 21School Blog: Eliminating Nuclear Weapons
• Listen to a podcast of the seminar