The postponement of the 2020 Review Conference to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) due to the COVID-19 pandemic comes at a time of profound uncertainty in the nuclear non-proliferation regime. Gaukhar Mukhatzhanova, Director of the International Organizations and Nonproliferation Program, addresses some of these uncertainties in a new article, published by the European Leadership Network.
According to Ms. Mukhatzhanova, the future of the US' role in the NPT Review Conference will depend to great extent on whether President Trump is re-elected or another candidate wins the seat. Similarly, the future of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with Iran and the 2010 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) will depend on the result of the US elections.
Additionally, COVID-19 has highlighted in frightening fashion the difficulties of a coordinated international crisis response, even by powerful countries. How, Ms. Mukhatzhanova asks, might an international response to the use of nuclear weapons look? In this regard, she recommends States Parties to resume discussions on the consequences of nuclear weapons use and crisis response, previously raised by the Humanitarian Initiative.
The postponement of the Review Conference has provided States Parties with time to address this and other issues. Of particular importance will be examining the extent to which the vision from the NPT's 1995 indefinite extension has been fulfilled and attempting to return some credibility to the review process broadly.
Read Ms. Mukhatzhanova's full article here.
Feature image courtesy of Ted & Dani Percival.
