NEW YORK – May 28, 2010: The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference adopted by consensus a Final Document containing a blueprint for concrete actions and next steps towards a world without nuclear weapons. Global Security Institute President Jonathan Granoff offers the following comments and is available for interviews.
CONTACT: Jonathan Granoff, GSI President. (Click here for his bio). +1 (484) 620-4967.
"The nuclear weapon states failed to make tangible and specific commitments in the document; however, they clearly legitimized thoroughly the principle that the world will be more secure and better off with the abolition of nuclear weapons. Moreover, they set forth principles and policies to which they have unanimously committed themselves that will help us get to a nuclear weapon-free world. The significance of this achievement must not be underestimated.
"Nay sayers will try to undermine this achievement, claiming that the Final Document 'is just words'. This would be akin to claiming that a blueprint for a building is 'just lines' on a page. First, the image and goal must be stated. Second, the principle for policies must be articulated, and third, the political forces mobilized to achieve them. It is the responsibility of all of us to mobilize those political forces.
"Academy awards are given for excellence in acting. The world recognizes athletic talent at the Olympics. Too little credit is given to the diplomats who were able to forge common ground for a passage to a safer, more secure future where countries with divergent interests and attitudes, such as the US and Iran, could find common ground and commit themselves.
In no small measure, success was achieved at the NPT Review Conference because of the uplifting inspiration provided by Russia and the United States in their collective efforts to advance disarmament. Ambassadors Gottemoeller and Antonov, in their joint briefing on the START treaty, articulated a pathway to hope and the re-start on better relations between the two powers.
"The governments of the world have stated clearly that stronger constraints on proliferation are required, that the way of dealing with threats in the Middle East is to have an enforceable nuclear weapons-free zone in the region and that a legally verifiable and enforceable, universal regime eliminating nuclear weapons is a ‘public good of the highest order,’ as it has been characterized by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
"The bold intervention by the Secretary-General calling upon the diplomats to make the extra effort was unprecedented, and undoubtedly helped them bridge the gaps on the Middle East and on clarity of commitments for the elimination of nuclear weapons.”
CONTACT: Jonathan Granoff, GSI President. (Click here for his bio). +1 (484) 620-4967.
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