II. The 2015 Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference

Chapter:

17. Nuclear arms control and non-proliferation

Source:

SIPRI Yearbook 2016

Author(s):

Tariq Rauf

The 2015 Review Conference of the Parties to the 1968 Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) was held on 27 April to 22 May 2015 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.¹ The president of the 2015 NPT Review Conference was Ambassador Taous Feroukhi of Algeria, representing the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). After 20 working days, which witnessed heated discussions on nuclear disarmament and the establishment of a zone free of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in the region of the Middle East, among other issues, the conference ended without any agreement on a concluding document or recommendations.² In the early hours of the final day, the conference president circulated a draft final document as her best effort to achieve consensus on a ‘take-it-or-leave-it’ basis, noting that it had not been possible to agree on a single consensual document, and that no outcome or position of a majority or of a minority could be imposed on the collectivity, and no state party could be compelled to accept any outcome.³