Held from April 27 to May 22 in New York, the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference saw Russia and China declare their ratification of the Protocol to the Treaty on a Central Asian Nuclear Weapon Free Zone (CANWFZ). Barack Obama sent the Protocol to the Senate, and Great Britain and France have already done their bit. Although the debate over several CANWFZ Treaty provisions took many years, four out of five nuclear powers now provide the Central Asian republics with negative security...
Beginning with the signing of the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty in 1963, an international arms control regime has limited existing nuclear arsenals and prevented further proliferation of nuclear weapons. But that entire system could soon unravel. Nearly all negotiations on nuclear arms reduction and nonproliferation have come to a stop, while existing treaty structures are eroding due to political and military-technological developments and may collapse in the near future. These strategic and technical...
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rejection
of nuclear weapons? In an attempt to derive the relevant benefits, non-nuclear nations may once again step up hints (read: threats) about the possibility of launching a uranium enrichment program or the construction of nuclear power plants.
The nuclear non-proliferation regime and the nuclear arms reduction process are akin to a bicycle: with no forward movement, they tilt and start to fall. If the progressive trend fizzles out under the influence of (geo)politics, regress will set in immediately ...