The Incremental Approach to Nuclear Disarmament

VCDNP Senior Fellow Angela Kane has contributed a chapter in a new book, "Nuclear Disarmament: A Critical Assessment," edited by Bård Nikolas Vik Steen and Olav Njølstad. The book, published in 2019, is comprised of essays in favour and against a world without nuclear weapons, as well as different historical approaches to nuclear disarmament. In her chapter, Ms. Kane examines the incremental approach to nuclear disarmament and its potential for meaningful progress.

Ms. Kane notes that nuclear disarmament issues have been discussed under the auspices of the UN since its inception, but that disarmament has neither advanced incrementally in recent years nor under the so called "step-by-step approach" touted by the nuclear-weapon States (NWSs). She does not claim such approaches to be illegitimate but rather that they have become stale.

Later in her chapter, Ms. Kane analyses recent developments, including the marked disparity between the NWSs and the non-nuclear-weapon States (NNWSs), the impact of the Humanitarian Initiative and the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. In light of these events, Ms. Kane urges the international community to return to an emphasis on multilateralism and diplomacy in order to close the gap between the NWSs and the NNWSs.

"History has shown that significant policy changes occur either after a cataclysmic event or through strong political will aided by perseverance and a spirit of compromise and diplomacy. Let us hope that the latter will prevail in these tumultuous times."

The book is available for purchase on the Taylor & Francis website.