The NPT: A global success story
Representatives of 172 states will gather in New York April 17 for a fateful four-week conference to decide on the future duration of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) the most important and inclusive arms control treaty ever undertaken. For a quarter century, the NPT has provided the indispensable framework for the nuclear non-proliferation regime that has proved far more successful than even its most optimistic architects dared hope. The conference`s decision on how long to extend this over-arching international undertaking will have far-reaching consequences for US and world security. When the NPT was negotiated in the late 1960s, its prospects were considered sufficiently uncertain that the drafters agreed not to give the treaty the indefinite duration that such a fundamental ordering of global security warranted. They opted instead to call for a conference after 25 years to decide whether the treaty should {open_quotes}continue in force indefinitely or shall be extended for an additional fixed period or periods.{close_quotes} Subsequent experience has unequivocally demonstrated the value of the treaty and its continuing vitality. Failure to extend the treaty indefinitely at the conference would have extremely serious consequences because the treaty allows this decision to be made only on this one occasion, by a simple majority vote, without referral to governments for ratification.
- OSTI ID:
- 433520
- Journal Information:
- Arms Control Today, Journal Name: Arms Control Today Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 25; ISSN 0196-125X; ISSN ACOTEB
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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