NEW YORK – May 28, 2010: The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference will close today with significant implications for the global non-proliferation regime, regardless of whether the Conference will adopt a consensus document. The Global Security Institute has experts who have been following the negotiations on the ground and behind-the-scenes, and are available for comment today or tomorrow.
CONTACT: Jonathan Granoff, GSI President. (Click here for his bio).
+1 (484) 620-4967. Or contact GSI Senior Officer Rhianna Kreger: rtkreger@gsinstitute.org; +1 (347) 461-7901.
The Final Document of the NPT Review Conference—which may or may not be adopted today—is a small, but significant step forward and, while representing a much watered down version of what many governments and NGOs wanted to see, "indicates a forward-looking commitment to disarmament and thus warrants the support of the international community," said Jonathan Granoff, President of the Global Security Institute.
The super majority of states parties to the NPT evidenced this past month a passionate desire to see specific tangible progress towards a nuclear weapon-free world. Progress towards this end, however, was effectively muted through the remarkable cooperation amongst the P5 (the states with nuclear weapons), which demanded that some of the most important and significant disarmament commitments were eliminated from the Conference draft. "It is ironic that such levels of cooperation could be obtained among states, some of which threaten each other with thousands of nuclear weapons and civilization annihilation," said Granoff. "If only they could cooperate with such unity to get rid of the weapons."
When they do cooperate on advancing disarmament, that congenial and cooperative spirit is demonstrably contagious. Take, for instance, the extremely positive presentation delivered by US Ambassador Rose Gottemoeller and Russian Ambassador Anatoly Antonov reviewing their progress on the START treaty. All conference participants were uplifted and inspired to utilize multilateral forums in equally effective ways.
- Peter Weiss, Vice-President, International Association of Lawyers against Nuclear Arms: 212 818-1861
- Dr. John Burroughs, Executive Director, Lawyers' Committee on Nuclear Policy: 917 439-4585
- Ambassador Jayantha Dhanapala, former Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs and past President of the NPT Review Conference:
- Dr. Rebecca Johnson, Executive Director, Acronym Institute,
author of books on CTBT, NPT and multilateral diplomacy: 1-646-808-7464
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