International Law Blog Postings

The 2005 Review Conference of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) concluded this week without the adoption of a final resolution, making it the third RevCon to end without some type of consensus since the treaty entered into force in 1970. Only the conferences in 1980 and 1990 also failed to produce final resolutions. While the resolutions are not legally binding, they are considered to be politically important. The divisive issues were the same as the ones first raised thirty years ago at RevCon 1975 and hotly debated ever since. Non-nuclear weapon states worry that nuclear weapon states are not acting in good faith to meet their nuclear disarmament obligations under Article VI. Nuclear weapon states want increased safeguards and constraints on the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, an "inalienable right" granted to all nations under Article IV. While this year's RevCon ended with finger-pointing and bold accusations in the media, mainly directed at the United States and Iran, the unofficial conclusion emerging from pundits and nuclear experts is an inevitable return to nuclear proliferation. In fact, Mohamed ElBaradei, the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), told journalist Fareed Zakaria in an interview that the world could expect an estimated 15-20 additional states to acquire nuclear weapons programs within the next two decades. Continue Reading