Disarmament: The Need to Engage all Nuclear Powers
Joseph Nye et al. | Brookings Institution | November 2009
Differences between the United States and the Russian Federation since the end of the Cold War have bogged down the nuclear disarmament process. Since 96% of all nuclear weapons remain in the hands of the former adversaries, Washington and Moscow must once again take the lead in opposing nuclear proliferation worldwide. The largely bilateral disarmament process to date must be expanded multilaterally to include those countries which have acquired nuclear weapons in the meantime.
Two treaties already in existence provide a framework for this effort: The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). Since its entry into force in 1970, the NPT has brought together 189 countries, including all of the five original nuclear powers. The agreement prohibits the acquisition of nuclear weaponry by states not previously in possession thereof. Its reach today is rather limited, considering that states like Pakistan, India, and Israel are not party to the treaty. Moreover, North Korea withdrew from the treaty in 2003, while Iran has consistently violated its treaty obligations. The 1996 CTBT has not yet entered into force, since eight countries have failed to ratify the agreement to date. In the United States, the U.S. Senate refused ratification of the CTBT ten years ago. Should the Obama administration succeed in pushing the CTBT through the Senate, its ratification would greatly bolster the stance of the United States internationally on the non-proliferation issue. The CTBT would also be beneficial to U.S. national security, since it would greatly facilitate the detection of non-sanctioned nuclear tests worldwide. In addition, U.S. ratification could induce other states to enter into agreements to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons; for example, by hindering the spread of know-how concerning the construction of enrichment and reprocessing facilities.
Growing cooperation between Washington and Moscow on these issues, as well as the Geneva talks on the reduction of nuclear arsenals and the extension of the START I agreement, add to the hopes that both states are once again trying to do justice to their leadership role in the disarmament process - but this no longer suffices. The United States and the Russian Federation must seek to engage other countries in the contractual process in order to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons. North Korea must be enticed to rejoin the NPT, while Iran should be encouraged once again to respect its obligations under the same treaty. Recent nuclear powers such as Pakistan, India, and Israel must be integrated in the nuclear disarmament process. A summit on nuclear security is scheduled to take place in Washington next spring, followed by a conference in New York on the future of the CTBT. These events should be used to highlight the urgency of the disarmament issue.
This summary was prepared by the Atlantic Community editorial team from "U.S., Russia Must Lead on Arms Control" published here by the Brookings Institution
