Keys to Unblocking Multilateral Nuclear Arms Control
Last updated: August 27, 2008
Authors
|
Clifford E. Singer |
Published by Program in Arms Control, Disarmament, and International Security (ACDIS), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
ACDIS Occasional Paper series
July 2002
Full text [PDF]Summary
Given the current U.S. government’s resistance to formalized, negotiated multilateral treaties, success in the area of multilateral nuclear arms control over the next decade will present a challenge. To make any progress in the first half of this decade so that substantial results may occur in the second half, creative alternatives to immediate treaty negotiations will be necessary. This article outlines in the context of one multilateral arms control effort, namely the Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty (FMCT), what activities must be undertaken and issues addressed if efforts to develop more effective multilateral nuclear arms control are to resume and eventually succeed.The authors point out that an eventual universal halt to production of fissile materials for nuclear weapons programs is inevitable, but the timing of this is as yet very uncertain. The authors also examine the impasse in the Geneva Conference on Disarmament (CD) over whether discussions or negotiations on prevention of an arms race in outer space (PAROS) will accompany FMCT negotiations and discussions of the overall future of nuclear disarmament.