The international security environment is increasingly being marked by the demise of the classical arms control architecture, the rise of great power politics, and eroding trust among states. Its future is unclear. New developments in military and dual-use technology, as well as weapon modernization programmes, add complexity to any effort towards peace and security.

This interdisciplinary conference examines the impacts of new technologies. It seeks concepts on how to achieve a more resilient security environment through scientific contributions and policy measures towards crisis resolution, risk assessments, confidence-building, and arms limitations. Nuclear, biological, chemical and space threats, as well as developments in information technology, will be examined.

We seek contributions from the natural and technical sciences, the social and legal sciences, and ethics. The conference aims at a dialogue between academics, think tank scholars and the policy community. Therefore, we welcome submissions from all these groups.

With this Call for Contributions, we seek abstracts for idea pitches (5 minutes) with subsequent discussion, talks (10-20 minutes) or posters (with a 2-minute pitch in front of the full audience) until 31 March. Abstracts are to be submitted at http://sps21.fonas.org/abstract-submission/.

To achieve targeted discussions, all contributions should fit as closely as possible to one of the five themes described below. To ignite debate, we are not only interested in on-going research, but specifically also in new and creative ideas, for example on policy approaches, future research questions, or ways to increase inclusivity in the debates. The abstracts will be part of published proceedings.

Complete information about the call for contributions is available here.