The NPT’s Disarmament Commitments And Strategic Realities |
When the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) was formed in 1968 and subsequently enforced in 1970, after a deadlock of many years of negotiations on establishing the three fundamental pillars of the NPT (a) non-proliferation, (b) peaceful uses of nuclear technology, and (c) nuclear disarmament the major nuclear weapons states, now called the P-5, promised to pursue nuclear disarmament under the NPT.
They did not keep their promise of complete disarmament. They failed miserably, despite the indefinite extension of the NPT at the 1995 NPT Review Conference. The commitments to nuclear disarmament were overshadowed by the harsh strategic realities of international politics.
The good news is that there are only nine nuclear-weapon states in the system, despite the perceived danger of a cascade of nuclear proliferation across the board. However, aspirant states seeking to acquire nuclear weapons were either forcefully prevented by the United States or pre-empted through preventive strikes by others, such as Israel and the United States.
Israel pre-empted Iraq, Syria, and, more recently, Iran’s nuclear facilities because of its fear of an “existential threat” from other countries possessing nuclear weapons. Yet Israel remains the only country to possess nuclear weapons in the region while rejecting the proposed nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East. This became one of the reasons for the failure of the NPT Review Conference.
The United States did not allow others to acquire nuclear weapons, except the United Kingdom and France, for two simple reasons. First, the United States seeks to promote non-proliferation imperatives by providing a nuclear umbrella (extended deterrence) to its allies and partners, thereby discouraging them from developing their own nuclear capability. Second, many security analysts argue that this approach serves the United States’ vital security interests by retaining its power projection and security dominance over its allies.
The bad news is that the NPT remains weak and ineffective, not even preventing nuclear-weapon states from striking........