SAVING THE NPT

Abstract

For more than forty years, the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) has provided major security benefits to the international community; however, the treaty is suffering from internal and external pressures, and benign neglect on the part of its members is undermining its authority. To ensure the treaty's continued viability, it is time for member states to start showing the NPT the respect it deserves and to renew their commitments to its fundamental purposes. Achieving this requires remedial action in at least four areas of vulnerability: reinvigorating nuclear disarmament; strengthening nonproliferation; overcoming the NPT's institutional deficit; and fostering a rapprochement between NPT and non-NPT states that does not abandon the goal of treaty universalization. There is still time before the 2010 NPT Review Conference for concerted action to restore the NPT's vitality and for the United States to resume its leadership role on behalf of the treaty and its membership.

Keywords:

• Nonproliferation
• Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons
• international security
• treaty regimes

Acknowledgements

DISCLAIMER

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada.

Notes

1. Preparatory Committee for the 2010 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (2010 PrepCom), “Chairman's Working Paper,” containing the factual summary from the first Preparatory Committee of the 2010 NPT Review Conference, NPT/CONF2010/PC.1/WP.78, May 11, 2007.

2. For an elaboration of this problem, see Paul Meyer, “Is There Any Fizz Left in the Fissban? Prospects for a Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty,” Arms Control Today, December 2007, p. 18.

3. 2010 PrepCom, “Chairman's Working Paper,” NPT/CONF2010/PC.1/WP.78, May 11, 2007, paragraph 29.

4. Fiona Simpson, “Reforming the Nuclear Fuel Cycle: Time is Running Out,” Arms Control Today, September 2008, <www.armscontrol.org/act/2008_09/Simpson>.

5. For one official proposal on institutional reform, see “Overcoming the Institutional Deficit of the NPT,” working paper submitted by Canada, NPT/CONF./PCIII/WP.1, April 5, 2004.

6. All figures from, “Transparency and Accountability: NPT Reporting 2002–2007,” Project Ploughshares, April 2008.

7. 2000 NPT Review Conference, Final Document, May 2000, NPT/CONF.2000/28, Part I, Article I, para. 8.

8. 2010 PrepCom, “Chairman's Working Paper,” NPT/CONF.2010/PC.II.WP.43, May 9, 2008, paragraph 7, p. 2.

9. “Arms Control Today Presidential Q&A: President-Elect Barack Obama,” Arms Control Today, December 2008, <www.armscontrol.org/2008election>.

10. For a good synopsis of the summit, see Anya Loukianova and Miles Pomper, “Obama's Moscow Visit Highlights Both Progress and Obstacles in U.S.–Russian Nuclear Relations,” James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, CNS Featured Stories, July 10, 2009, <www.CNS.miis.edu/stories/090710_obama_moscow.htm>.