Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty
The Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) is a worldwide treaty that has been designed to help eliminate the threat of nuclear arms. The Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty is another treaty that is directed towards prevention of a nuclear disaster. In this essay I will use resources to give a description of both the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. I will also include President Bush’s policies on nuclear weapons, North Korea’s recent withdraw from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, NATO weapon searches in Iraq, and our future living in a nuclear world. The “Arms Control Association” states that “The Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT), which entered into force in March 1970, seeks to inhibit the spread of nuclear weapons. Its 188 states-parties are classified in two categories: nuclear-weapon states (NWS)-consisting of the United States, Russia, China, France, and the United Kingdom-and non-nuclear-weapon states (NNWS). Under the treaty, the five NWS commit to pursue general and complete disarmament, while the NNWS agree to forgo developing or acquiring nuclear weapons” (“Arms Control Association”). The “Arms Control Association” also states, “With its near-universal membership, the NPT has the widest adherence of any arms control agreement, with only India, Israel, and Pakistan remaining outside the treaty. In order to accede to the treaty, these states must do so as NNWS, since the treaty restricts NWS status to nations that ‘manufactured and exploded a nuclear weapon or other nuclear explosive device prior to 1 January 1967.