{"id":32783,"date":"2017-07-10T14:20:12","date_gmt":"2017-07-10T04:20:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=32783"},"modified":"2017-07-10T14:20:12","modified_gmt":"2017-07-10T04:20:12","slug":"understanding-uns-new-treaty-prohibition-nuclear-weapons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/understanding-uns-new-treaty-prohibition-nuclear-weapons\/","title":{"rendered":"Understanding the UN\u2019s new Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons"},"content":{"rendered":"
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On the same day that the third and near-final draft of the text of the UN\u2019s new Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons was released, North Korea tested its latest missile, boasting it had achieved intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capability that brings Alaska within its range. Foreign Minister Julie Bishop joined world leaders in strongly criticising<\/a> Pyongyang for defying international condemnation of its nuclear and missile program. Yet Australia has boycotted the UN talks, currently the world\u2019s only efforts actually to promote nuclear disarmament. Given that, how much credibility and moral authority does Bishop\u2019s criticism of North Korea have?<\/p>\n

Reflecting the widespread dismissive attitude of the nuclear weapon states and allies sheltering under the US nuclear umbrella, Rod Lyon writes<\/a> that \u2018the ban treaty probably won\u2019t remove a single nuclear weapon from the face of the earth\u2019. The recalcitrant states have boycotted the UN ban conference on two grounds: the appropriate global normative framework for regulating nuclear weapons is the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT)<\/a> and the mandated multilateral disarmament machinery is the Conference on Disarmament<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Newsflash: The Conference has not been able to agree on its own agenda for 20 years and the NPT has never eliminated a single warhead. After 49 years of existence, and 21 years after the World Court unanimously advised<\/a> that under Article VI all NPT states parties have an obligation to engage in and bring to a conclusion good-faith negotiations on nuclear disarmament, the NPT count on elimination or a disarmament treaty is zero. The UN talks produced an agreed treaty within just one month of negotiations.<\/p>\n

The state of nuclear arms control in 2017 shows three storylines:<\/p>\n