The International Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament is a joint initiative of the Australian and Japanese Governments. It aims to reinvigorate international efforts on nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament, in the context of both the 2010 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference, and beyond.

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd proposed the Commission on the 9 June 2008, in Kyoto, to be co-chaired by former Australian Foreign Minister Gareth Evans. On 9 July, Prime Minister Rudd and Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda agreed to establish the Commission and announced that former Japanese Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi would co-chair the Commission.

Commissioners

Gareth Evans (Australia) (Co-Chair)

Professor Evans was Australia’s Resources and Energy Minister (1984-87) and Foreign Minister (1988-96). He initiated the Canberra Commission (1996) and was a member of the UN High-level Panel (2004), Blix Commission (2006) and Zedillo Commission on the IAEA (2008). He was President (2000-09) and is now President Emeritus of the International Crisis Group, and is currently the Chancellor of the Australian National University and an Honorary Professorial Fellow at the University of Melbourne.

Yoriko Kawaguchi (Japan) (Co-Chair)

Ms Kawaguchi has been a Member of the House of Councillors for the Liberal Democratic Party since 2005. She was Special Advisor to the Prime Minister, responsible for foreign affairs (2004-05), Minister for Foreign Affairs (2002-04) and Minister for the Environment (2000-02). Previously she was a Managing Director of Suntory Ltd, a senior official at the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, Minister at the Embassy of Japan in the United States, and an economist at the World Bank.

Turki Al Faisal (Saudi Arabia)

HRH Prince Turki was Director General of Intelligence from 1977 to 2001, and Ambassador to the United Kingdom and Ireland from 2002 to 2005,and to the United States from 2005 to 2007. He is currently Chairman of the Board of the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic studies in Riyadh.

Alexei Arbatov (Russia)

Dr Arbatov was a member of the Russian Duma and Deputy Chairman of the Duma Defence Committee from 1994 to 2003. He is currently a Scholar-in-Residence and Chair of the Non-proliferation Program at the Carnegie Moscow Center.

Gro Harlem Brundtland (Norway)

Dr Brundtland was Prime Minister of Norway for ten years between 1981 and 1996. She chaired the World Commission on Environment and Development (1987) and was Director-General of the World Health Organization from 1998 to 2003. She is currently the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on Climate Change.

Frene Noshir Ginwala (South Africa)

Dr Ginwala was Speaker of South Africa’s National Assembly from 1994 to 2004. She was Chancellor of the University of KwaZulu-Natal from 2004 until June 2009.

François Heisbourg (France)

Mr Heisbourg is Chairman of the International Institute for Strategic Studies and the Geneva Centre for Security Policy, and Special Adviser at the Fondation pour la Recherche Stratégique, and was a member of the French Presidential Commission that produced the 2008 Defence and National Security White Paper.

Jehangir Karamat (Pakistan)

General Karamat was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Chief of Army Staff between 1996 and 1998 and Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States from 2004 to 2006. He is currently Director of the Spearhead Research Institute. .

Brajesh Mishra (India)

Mr Mishra was India’s Ambassador in Geneva, Jakarta and then New York from 1973 to 1981, and National Security Adviser and Principal Secretary to former Indian Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee from 1998 to 2004.

Klaus Naumann (Germany)

General Naumann was Chairman of the NATO Military Committee from 1996 to 1999 and Chief of the Defence Staff in Germany from 1991 to 1996. He was a Member of the Panel on UN Peace Operations (2000) and the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty (2001).

William Perry (United States)

Dr Perry was the US Secretary of Defense from 1994 to 1997. He is currently a Professor at Stanford University in the School of Engineering and the Institute for International Studiess.

Wang Yingfan (China)

Ambassador Wang was China’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations from 2000 to 2003, and Vice-Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Chinese National People’s Congress from 2003 to 2008.

Shirley Williams (United Kingdom)

Baroness Williams was Leader of the Liberal Democrat Party in the House of Lords from 2001 to 2004. She is currently Professor Emeritus of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and an adviser to Prime Minister Gordon Brown on nuclear proliferation issues.

Wiryono Sastrohandoyo (Indonesia)*

Ambassador Wiryono was Director-General of Political Affairs in Indonesia’s Department of Foreign Affairs from 1990-1993. He has served as Indonesia’s Ambassador to Australia, France and Austria, as Permanent Representative to the UN in Vienna and on the Board of Governors for the IAEA.

Ernesto Zedillo (Mexico)

Dr Zedillo was President of Mexico from 1994 to 2000. He is currently Director of the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization, and Professor at Yale University in international economics and politics.

* Pak Wiryono was appointed to the Commission in January 2009 following the death of his Indonesian predecessor Ali Alatas in December 2008. Mr Alatas was Foreign Minister of Indonesia from 1988 to 1999, and was advisor to and special envoy of the President of the Republic of Indonesia at the time of his death. The Commission was deeply saddened by the news of the passing of our colleague, who participated in the first meeting in October 2008, and his wise advice and wealth of experience will be sorely missed internationally.