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"I find hope in the work of long-established groups such as the Arms Control Association...[and] I find hope in younger anti-nuclear activists and the movement around the world to formally ban the bomb."

– Vincent Intondi
Author, "African Americans Against the Bomb: Nuclear Weapons, Colonialism, and the Black Freedom Movement"
July 1, 2020
Editor's Note
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Miles A. Pomper

It may seem strange to argue that the 1968 nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) has been a success at a time when North Korea has opted out of the treaty, Iran has skirted its requirements, and the nuclear-weapon states are still far from meeting the treaty's ultimate goal of nuclear disarmament. Yet, especially given the technological changes and increasing globalization of the last four decades, things surely could have been much worse.

Exactly what has prevented more countries from developing nuclear weapons is open to discussion. International alliances, domestic politics, and the strong-arm tactics of the nuclear superpowers have certainly played a part. But it is also certain that the NPT has played an essential role.

As four influential leaders make clear in this month's issue, if the treaty is going to continue to play its essential role in the preservation of peace and stability in the coming decades, it will have to be adapted and strengthened. In particular, all four write that the nuclear-weapon states have to demonstrate more clearly their commitment to nuclear disarmament.

Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre acknowledges that states will need to resolve some of the most difficult dilemmas surrounding deterrence and verification. Former UN Undersecretary-General Jayantha Dhanapala argues that such efforts are essential if non-nuclear-weapon states are to be held to their own NPT commitments. Ambassador Thomas R. Pickering, formerly the top U.S. career diplomat, writes that the permanent members of the UN Security Council, particularly the United States and Russia, can and should do more to reduce nuclear dangers. Pointing to the example of the Chemical Weapons Convention, K. Subrahmanyam, a leading Indian nuclear strategist, argues that nuclear-weapon states should take steps, such as banning the first use of nuclear arms, that could eventually lead to the elimination of the weapons altogether.

In addition to looking forward to the future of the NPT, this issue includes a pictorial history of the treaty and related developments in the nuclear nonproliferation regime, created by Assistant Editor Brian Creamer and staff analysts.

Our news section includes Oliver Meier's reporting on a preparatory meeting for the NPT's 2010 review conference. Other news articles cover differences over a proposed follow-on to the 1991 U.S.-Russia START agreement, President George W. Bush's decision to send a nuclear cooperation agreement with Russia to Congress, and the latest wrinkles in the efforts to curb the North Korean and Iranian nuclear programs.

In our book review this month, Paul Boyer discusses J. Peter Scoblic's U.S. vs Them, which examines the role that conservative ideology has played in U.S. political battles over arms control during the last half-century. One of the battles he touches on is the conservatives' fight against the consistent application of the NPT. This is a fight one hopes they lose.