Det danske Fredsakademi
Kronologi over fredssagen og international politik 19. Juni 2005 / Time Line June 19, 2005
Version 3.006/19/2005
A critical moment for the Non Proliferation regime
The Council of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World
Affairs is greatly concerned about the recent failure of the
Seventh Review Conference of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT),
held in New York in May, to deliver a
final document with concrete indications on how to progress towards
the reduction and ultimately the elimination of nuclear weapons, as
called for when the NPT entered into force in 1970.
The difficulties and even the possibility of a collapse of the
nuclear non-proliferation regime, the weakening of the taboos in
place since 1945 on the use of nuclear weapons, coupled with the
dangers of a terrorist group detonating a nuclear explosive device,
combine to produce a recipe for potential unmitigated disaster.
Despite the urgency of the threat and the gravity of the situation,
the lack of political will of some NPT states parties to live up to
their obligations under the Treaty produced a deadlock and
paralysis during the meetings in New York. Despite the best efforts
of the NPT Review Conference President, Amb. Sergio Duarte, and
many others, the Seventh Review Conference actually represented a
step back from the conclusions made at the two previous review
conferences in 1995 and 2000. In particular the important
conclusions of the 2000 review Conferences (the so called 13
steps), which have never been implemented, have not been even
mentioned in any offcial document of the 2005 review
Conference.
For their part, the original nuclear weapons states (US, Russia,
UK, France and China) have not lived up to their obligations under
Article VI of the NPT to move decisively toward the irreversible
elimination of their nuclear arsenals. Such inaction invites
charges of hypocrisy when these same countries seek to deny access
to nuclear technologies to non-nuclear weapons states, or –
in the case of the United States – continue to profess
interest in developing new nuclear weapons and possibly resume
nuclear testing. More broadly, the entire framework of nuclear
weapons disarmament is in danger of being swept away. Strategic
arms control between the US and Russia is not progressing, the
Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) has not entered into force,
and serious negotiations have not even started on a Fissile
Material Cut-off Treaty (FMCT) to eliminate production of
weapons-grade Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU) and plutonium.
Moreover, too little is being done to control and dispose of
existing stockpiles of HEU that run the risk of falling into the
hands of terrorist groups. No attention is being paid to large
numbers of tactical nuclear weapons that continue to exist in great
numbers with no military rationale whatsoever, while the deployment
of weapons in space moves closer to reality.
Elsewhere, fundamental challenges to the nuclear non-proliferation
regime are posed by the withdrawal of North Korea from the NPT and
its nuclear military program, by the loopholes that exist which
allow countries which develop full-cycle civilian nuclear
activities to move more easily towards developing nuclear weapon
programs, and by the continued presence and activities of three
nuclear weapons-states that exist outside the NPT.
Time is running out if a nuclear catastrophe is to be averted.
Political solutions are urgently needed to resolve those conflicts
that either spawn international terrorism, or increase the risk of
the use of nuclear weapons or other WMDs, or destabilize the
Non-proliferation regime or all of these things combined. Global
security must be based on international institutions and the rule
of law rather than on unilateral action and an excessive reliance
on military force.
In the wake of the failure of the 2005 NPT Review Conference, the
Pugwash Council calls on national governments, multilateral
institutions, and international NGOs to lead the international
community away from a misplaced reliance on nuclear weapons, We
need to understand the catastrophic dangers that await us if clear
progress is not made to decisively reduce and eventually eliminate
nuclear weapons.
Contact:
Dr. Jeffrey Boutwell, Executive Director
Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs
11 Dupont Circle, NW Suite 900
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: 1-202-478-3440
Email: pugwashdc@aol.com
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