7. Nuclear disarmament, arms control and non-proliferation

Chapter:

7. Nuclear disarmament, arms control and non-proliferation

Source:

SIPRI Yearbook 2018

Author(s):

Dan Smith

There was important new momentum behind global efforts to promote nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation in 2017. The year was marked by the negotiation and opening for signature of the new Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). The treaty is the first legally binding international agreement to comprehensively prohibit nuclear weapons, with the ultimate goal of their total elimination. The opening of negotiations on the treaty had been mandated by a United Nations General Assembly resolution at the end of 2016 that had in turn been motivated by the growing international awareness of the devastating humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons (see section I). These steps reflected the frustration of many non-nuclear weapon states that the nuclear weapon states were not taking seriously their obligation under the 1968 Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) to pursue nuclear disarmament. While proponents of the TPNW acknowledged that it would probably have no immediate impact on existing nuclear arsenals, they highlighted its long-term normative impact—it would serve to delegitimize and stigmatize nuclear weapons and thereby contribute to achieving the ultimate goal of nuclear disarmament. At the same time, there was a recognition during the year that the relationship between the TPNW, the NPT and related agreements would have to be defined over time in order to prevent the fragmentation of nuclear disarmament efforts.