Sixty-third session of the UN Secretary General’s Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters concluded its work in Geneva. I took part in the work of the session, together with experts from Argentina, Australia, China, France, Ghana, Hungary, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Spain, Switzerland, and the USA.

As I recall, one of the previous PIR Center calendars featured a Samoan pineapple on the cover. I think it was back in the “fat naughties” as the decade has become known in Russia. The 2014 cover showed a merry gathering of three South Africans rhinos. The Security Index has always been partial to rhinos – not so much because of their horn but because despite their thick armor, they have proved vulnerable and are now on the brink of extinction. That is why the rhino is an accurate reflection of the nature of security.