"Tentative Announcement"
Laying the Grounds for 2012 Opportunities for Nuclear
Non-Proliferation and Nuclear Security
(Amman) November 21-22, 2011.

One of the important outcomes of the 2010 REVCON included a decision of convening a UN conference in 2012 on the establishment of a Middle East zone free of nuclear weapons and all other weapons of mass destruction. The 2012 meeting will be sponsored by the UN and the three co-sponsors of the 1995 resolution, namely US, UK, and Russia.

It is very clear that the status of nuclear non-proliferation in the Middle East was, and will remain, an important priority to the international community as well as legislative instruments (including the NPT).

The proposed UN meeting in 2012 is in important step towards achieving nuclear disarmament in the Middle East. In order for this to materialize, sincere effort is needed to promote the holding of the proposed meeting and to promote UN efforts in this regards.

Within this context, the Arab Institute for Security Studies (ACSIS) intends to hold an international preparatory meeting prior to the 2012 UN conference. The meeting aims to gather regional and international representatives with the intention of collecting information and requesting input. The meeting is expected to be held in a Middle Eastern country.

ACSIS aims to support the efforts of the United Nations and promote the holding of the 2012 planned conference on the Middle East. For that purpose, coordination with national, regional and international parties will take place. The meeting aims to highlight challenges, requirements and prerequisites for active participation and engagement by all states.

The first half of 2011 has passed and the United Nations Secretary General had not yet appointed a facilitator to overtake the mission of organizing the 2012 UN Conference on the Middle East. It is our intention to assist and promote the mission of the UN and its newly appointed UN facilitator. It is also important to finalize the selection of the host government (hosting the 2012 meeting) at an early stage and within the moths to come.

2012 is an important year not only because of convening the UN meeting, but also because the holding of another international gathering of profound importance, namely the Nuclear Summit in South Korea. The project will investigate possible implications of having both events in the same year. Although the timing of the Nuclear Summit is not announced yet, it would very important to have reasonable time spacing between both events so as to avoid any timing conflicts. The meeting will study many topical issues including interactions between these two events expected to take place in 2012, namely the UN Conference on the Middle East and the Nuclear Security Summit to be held in South Korea.

Organizations and individuals interested in participating are encouraged to write to the meeting committee. For additional information, send your queries to:
Conference Committee

Tel +962 79 5569317
Fax +962 6 5345085
Amman - Jordan
email info@acsis.org