Ramesh Thakur and Gareth Evans, eds.,
(Canberra: Centre for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament, 2013)
All rights reserved. © 2013 Centre for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament
Crawford School of Public Policy
The Australian National University
Canberra, ACT 0200 Australia
"By the end of 2009 hopes were higher than for many years that the world was at last seriously headed towards nuclear disarmament. President Obama had promised “to put an end to Cold War thinking” by reducing the role of nuclear weapons in US national security strategy, Russia and the United States had renewed nuclear arms reduction negotiations, and the next Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference seemed likely to advance both the disarmament and non-proliferation agendas.
By the end of 2012, however, much of this sense of optimism had evaporated. The New START Treaty was concluded, but it left stockpiles intact and disagreements about missile defence and conventional arms imbalances unresolved. The push for a conference on a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East had stalled; and the challenges posed by North Korea and Iran were no closer to resolution. While nuclear weapons numbers had fallen overall, they were growing in Asia.
This report, the first in a proposed series, describes the progress – or lack of it – on the commitments and recommendations of the 2010 NPT Review Conference, the 2010 and 2012 Nuclear Security Summits, and the 2009 report of the International Commission on Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament (ICNND).
It provides an authoritative analysis and advocacy tool for governments, organizations and individuals committed to achieving a safer and saner nuclear-weapon-free world."
For more information and to download the complete report, please visit the CNND website here: Nuclear Weapons: The State of Play.
Jennifer Allen Simons, C.M., Ph.D., LL.D., Founder and President of The Simons Foundation, is a member of the International Advisory Board of the Centre for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament. The Hon. Gareth Evans, A.C., Q.C., is the Board's Chair and co-editor of this report, Chancellor of the Australian National University, and one of The Simons Foundation's Peace Leaders.
