Alissa Tabirian
NS&D Monitor
2/5/2016
The U.S. State Department last Wednesday hosted a Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) meeting in which midlevel officials from the United States and 70 partner states gathered to discuss collective nonproliferation efforts. More than 100 PSI member states have committed to taking actions to counter the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
At the meeting, participating governments reviewed progress made since the last PSI meeting in 2013, set goals for the PSI’s 15th anniversary meeting to be hosted by France in 2018, and discussed new developments in proliferation and interdiction, the State Department said. Participants also “promoted more regular and robust PSI activities, such as workshops and exercises; encouraged outreach to additional states and the public; underscored the importance of combatting proliferation financing; and shared expertise and resources to build capacity for conducting interdictions,” it said.
Thomas Countryman, assistant secretary of state for international security and nonproliferation, said at the meeting, “PSI is functioning exactly as was intended, and as it should continue to do so.” Countryman said many of the issues discussed at PSI meetings, including transshipment controls and proliferation financing, “have now entered the larger international agenda.”
“Our proactive work has promoted a global effort toward taking actions to stop WMD-proliferation-related shipments; influenced U.N. Security Council resolutions aimed at preventing proliferation; improved national authorities; and promoted new international agreements through which countries can prohibit the use of commercial ships for WMD trafficking,” Countryman said. He also read a statement from the White House that lauded member states’ efforts through the PSI and said that “if we work in a spirit of common purpose, a day will come where everyone around the globe will live free from fear of these tools of destruction.”
