Why nuclear weapon ban treaty is unlikely to fulfil its promise.

Why nuclear weapon ban treaty is unlikely to fulfil its promise.

Onderco, M (2018) “Why nuclear weapon ban treaty is unlikely to fulfil its promise” Global Affairs. 3(4-5), 391-404.

Recent discussion about the nuclear ban treaty is the culmination of the “Humanitarian initiative”, arguably the most important development within the non-proliferation regime over the past Review cycle. Supporters see such treaty as the first step to forcing countries possessing nuclear weapons to disarm. This paper argues that a ban treaty is a bad idea because it would neither strengthen the norms, nor make the world a safer place. Instead, it would weaken the position of international law, and put premium on cheating on international commitments. Such outcome would not be beneficial neither for those wishing to do away with the risk of nuclear weapons, nor for the stability of international system. The article wraps up by listing some alternative possibilities to make world safer from the nuclear weapons – short of banning them outright.

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