On Friday, a treaty was adopted, banning nuclear weapons. The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons was approved in the United Nations headquarters in New York City by a vote of 122 to 1. Netherlands was the only country which took part in the negotiation that voted against the treaty and Singapore abstained. This is a result of seven decades of activism to rid the world of nuclear weapons.
While this is a big milestone towards having a nuclear-weapons-free world, none of the nuclear-armed states participated in the treaty. Some of the states that boycotted this treaty cited nuclear deterrence as the reason, with the U.S. pointing to North Korea’s recent successful ICBM test as a reason for not backing the treaty.
The United States, the United Kingdom and France issued a joint statement saying, “We do not intend to sign, ratify or ever become party to it. Therefore, there will be no change in the legal obligations on our countries with respect to nuclear weapons.”
After seeing the devastating and inhumane effects of the atomic bombs used in World War Two by the United States, one would’ve thought that The West, which is known for its progressiveness would lead the way to make sure the use of nuclear weapons is illegal.
Boycotting the treaty shows that the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, a treaty which was supposed to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, is nothing more than a power play move by the nuclear-armed states to hold a monopoly on world power. It’s no coincidence that all five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council have nuclear weapons. These countries are the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, and China. They are collectively known as the P5. Their permanent membership grants each one of them a veto right to prevent any substantive resolutions from passing.
Also, the U.S., which is still the only nation in the world to have used a nuclear weapon in war, still doesn’t have a “no first use” policy. That is, they are still willing to use a nuclear weapon as first strike, killing thousands, if not millions, of people. The U.K. has a similar stance, with the Prime Minister Theresa May’s defense minister saying she was prepared to use nuclear weapons even if the U.K. wasn’t under nuclear attack.
The nuclear deterrence policy which the United States and its allies adopt has also been cited by North Korea as its reason for developing nuclear weapons. The U.S. not having a no first strike indirectly validates North Korea’s reason and vice versa.
The nuclear deterrence has also led to mutual perceptions of threat and an arms race. The arms race has resulted in a possible risk of an actual nuclear war. Countries that have recently developed nuclear weapons have either had historically hostile nations which had developed theirs prior or were in the process of developing. Russia has nuclear weapons because the U.S. has. Pakistan has warheads because India has. UK and France both have warheads as a deterrent against Russia and to maintain their status as great powers. China has warheads as a deterrent against both the US and Russia. Some NATO countries also share nuclear weapons.
The attachment of a nation’s survival to nuclear weapons is a dangerous and ill-thought-out move and sets a dangerous precedent for more nations to possess these dangerous weapons.
The NPT was signed to prevent nations from further developing nuclear weapons in exchange for the nuclear-armed states to disarm itself of its weapons. But so far, the P5 states haven’t lived up to their own part of the deal. The two countries with the largest nuclear arsenal, Russia and the U.S., have signed bilateral treaties on reducing their number of warheads These treaties are nothing more than signatures on papers, as there has been no real action by the either nation to show it intends on fully disarming. As more countries continue to use the excuse as a deterrent to acquire these weapons, more countries will follow suit, thereby, destroying the dream of a nuclear-weapons-free world.
The treaty on prohibition of nuclear weapons, which may not have an impact yet, is a stepping stone to this dream. It creates more room for political pressure on nuclear nations to disarm. The treaty will be open for signature on September 20, 2017 during the annual general assembly. None of the nations that boycotted the resolution are expected to sign.
