MAKING THE AGENDA STICK Lessons Learned From the 2007 NPT PrepCom

Abstract

After the conclusion of the 2008 Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) for the 2010 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), the Nonproliferation Review interviewed Ambassador Yukiya Amano of Japan, who presided over the 2007 session of the PrepCom in Vienna. He provided valuable insights into his preparations for the PrepCom and shared his thoughts on some of the most pressing issues that confronted his chairmanship and the PrepCom as a whole. The interview also provides useful perspectives on the future of the strengthened review process.

Keywords:

• Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons
• nuclear nonproliferation
• nuclear disarmament

Notes

1. Since the DPRK's announced withdrawal on January 10, 2003, the NPT parties have not collectively taken a position on the status of North Korea vis-à-vis the treaty. Given concerns that uncertainty about the DPRK's status could have led to a procedural and potentially divisive debate at the start of the 2003 PrepCom meeting, the chairman of that PrepCom, Ambassador László Molnár, announced that he would take custody of the DPRK's nameplate and that it would not be displayed among those of the states parties, but that it would remain in the conference room. This practice has been used at all subsequent NPT PrepCom sessions as well the 2005 Review Conference.