Denuclearizing central Asia

This study deals with two interrelated issues: the withdrawal of Soviet nuclear weapons from Central Asia; and the regional nuclear‐weapon‐free zone (NWFZ) initiative. Central Asian countries succeeded in denuclearizing the region. The ex‐Soviet nuclear weapons were withdrawn from Central Asia, and fissile material production for military purposes was stopped. The Central Asian states acceded to the Non‐Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty regimes, and established elements of a nuclear export control system. By removing the threat of nuclear confrontation and strengthening the nonproliferation regime these countries promoted security in the area. By establishing a Central Asia NWFZ the regional and global NPT regimes could be further strengthened and a new type of regional international relations system could emerge. There are both incentives for and obstacles to the NWFZ idea. On the one hand, all major regional players and nuclear powers favour, with some minor exception, establishing such a zone. On the other hand, a number of factors, such as problems in cooperation between Central Asian countries, negative implications of the Indian and Pakistani nuclear programmes, security interests of some nuclear powers, and numerous technical problems, create obstacles to establishment of the zone.