THE conference of the 191 signatories of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) got under way at the UN headquarters in New York this week. The last such meeting, in 2010, produced agreement over a 64-point action plan. This time it is likely to be a much more divisive affair.
The aim of “RevCon”, as it is known, is to take stock of progress (or otherwise) over the previous five years in strengthening the three pillars on which the NPT’s “grand bargain” rests: the commitment to pursue disarmament by the five “official” nuclear weapons states—America, Russia, Britain, France and China, also known as the P5; action to stop the proliferation of nuclear weapons; and promotion of the peaceful use of nuclear energy. RevCons are high both on obscure technical discussion, and on diplomatic grandstanding. And the NPT has often been under stress since it came into force in 1970. But without it the world would be a more dangerous place. Only three countries have never signed up—India, Pakistan and Israel. Only one, North Korea, has ever left.
At least one bit of good news for the four-week...
from The Economist: International http://ift.tt/1bi6J1F
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