THE WISDOM FUND: News & Views
July 7, 2017
The Guardian (UK)

Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapons Approved at United Nations

Supporters hail step towards nuclear-free world as treaty is backed by 122 countries

by Ian Sample

More than 70 years after the world witnessed the devastating power of nuclear weapons, a global treaty has been approved to ban the bombs, a move that supporters hope will lead to the eventual elimination of all nuclear arms. . . .

nuclear explosion "It's a prohibition in line with other prohibitions on weapons of mass destruction," said Beatrice Fihn at the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons in Geneva. "We banned biological weapons 45 years ago, we banned chemical weapons 25 years ago, and today we are banning nuclear weapons." Within two years the treaty could have the 50-state ratifications that it needs to enter into international law, she said. . . .

Under the new treaty, signatory states must agree not to develop, test, manufacture or possess nuclear weapons, or threaten to use them, or allow any nuclear arms to be stationed on their territory. . . .

The new treaty reflects a frustration among non-nuclear states that the NPT has not worked as hoped.

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Non-Proliferation Treaty (July 1, 1968)
- Forbids the five member states with nuclear weapons from transferring them to any other state
- Forbids member states without nuclear weapons from developing or aquiring them
- Provides assurance through the application of international safeguards that peaceful nuclear energy in NNWS will not be diverted to nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices
- Facilitates access to peaceful uses of nuclear energy for all NNWS under international safeguards
- Commits all member states to pursue good faith negotiations toward ending the nuclear arms race and achieving nuclear disarmament.

Enver Masud, "U.S. Violating Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty," The Wisdom Fund, March 11, 2003

Jimmy Carter, "'The United States is the major culprit in this erosion of the NPT'," Washington Post, March 28, 2005

Patrick J. Buchanan, "Bush Blows Hole Through Non-Proliferation Treaty," Antiwar.com, March 8, 2006

Julian Borger, "Mohamed ElBaradei Warns of New Nuclear Age," The Guardian, May 14, 2009

Gordon Prather, "The U.S. Is Violating the NPT -- 30 Countries Could Soon Have Nuclear Weapons," Antiwar.com, September 26, 2009

Richard Lachmann, "Why They Hate the Deal With Iran," counterpunch.org, July 15, 2015

Eric Margolis, "What Would Korean War II Look Like?," ericmargolis.com, April 15, 2017

"Nearly two-thirds of U.N. states agree treaty to ban nuclear weapons," reuters.com, July 7, 2017

David Krieger, "U.S., UK and France Denounce Nuclear Ban Treaty," counterpunch.org, July 13, 2017

David E Sanger and William J Broad, "Trump Forges Ahead on Costly Nuclear Overhaul," nytimes.com, August 27, 2017

"51 countries sign a treaty symbolically banning nuclear weapons," AFP, September 20, 2017

John LaForge, "US Bomb Tests and Bidding Wars Herald New (Unlawful) $1.5 Trillion Nuclear Weapons Complex," antiwar.com, October 9, 2017

Julian Borger, " US nuclear arsenal to cost $1.2tn over next 30 years, independent CBO report finds," theguardian.com, October 31, 2017

[The difference today is that the United States is actively considering the use of nuclear weapons in a first-strike capacity involving non-nuclear threats.--Scott Ritter, "Trump Nuke Plan Resets the Doomsday Clock," theamericanconservative.com, February 1, 2018]

"Russia's Putin unveils 'invincible' nuclear weapons," bbc.com, March 1, 2018

Aaron Mehta, "Here's when all of America's new nuclear warhead designs will be active -- and how much they'll cost," defensenews.com, November 3, 2018

[The TPNW is a significant milestone in the long and global effort to achieve a world free from nuclear weapons. The 86 countries that have signed so far are also signatories to the NPT - which also calls for nuclear disarmament - but signed on to the TPNW in apparent frustration over what they consider inadequate progress by the nuclear-armed states in fulfilling their NPT obligations.--Hans Kristensen and Matt Korda, "The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons Enters Into Force Today," Federation of American Scientists, January 22, 2021

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