Does the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Have a Future?
This May, the United Nations will be holding a review conference on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), a key nuclear arms control and disarmament agreement to which 188 countries are now parties. Originally proposed by the U.S. and Soviet governments, the NPT was signed at the United Nations in 1968 and went into force in 1970. Under its provisions, non-nuclear nations agreed to renounce the development of nuclear weapons and nuclear-armed nations agreed to divest themselves of their nuclear weapons through good faith negotiations for nuclear disarmament. In this fashion, nations on both sides of the Cold War divide signaled their intention to halt the nuclear arms race and move toward a nuclear-free world. For decades, there was substantial progress along these lines. Non-nuclear nations refrained from building nuclear weapons. And the nuclear powers, despite their frantic stockpiling of nuclear weapons to bolster their world dominance, signed a series of important nuclear ar
Related Questions
- Which country alone in the Middle East has nuclear weapons? Which country in the Middle East refuses to sign the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and bars international inspections?
- What is the purpose of the recent Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference?
- Does the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Have a Future?
