WASHINGTON: Important non-proliferation treaties are threatened by a renewed interest in nuclear weapons programmes on the part of the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato), says a new report released on Tuesday.
“Nato and Nuclear Disarmament”, by the Washington-based Institute for Energy and Environmental Research, analyses conflicts arising from Nato’s treaty obligations and calls for Nato countries to encourage the United States to stop all efforts to promote new nuclear programmes and to “denuclearize” Nato.
The report was released as Nato defence ministers prepare for a meeting in Colorado Springs, the city that is host to NORAD, the North American Aerospace Defence Command.
Under article four of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), all Nato members, including the United States, agreed to undertake a process of nuclear disarmament. The NPT was originally designed to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and know-how from nuclear to non-nuclear powers, and was amended in 1996 to include Article VI.
Current Nato policy, which maintains an enduring reliance on nuclear weapons as well as the idea of “first-use option,” stands in contradiction of the pledge its members made for nuclear disarmament.
Recent moves by the US government indicate that the United States may begin designing, testing, and producing new nuclear weapons, in direct defiance of the NPT. The 2002 Nuclear Posture Review, issued by the Department of Defence, set a course for US nuclear strategy that includes renewed emphasis on the role of nuclear weapons in military planning.
Recent budget requests have also included funding to develop usable nuclear weapons such as “bunker busters” and “mini-nukes.”
These plans would bring the United States, and thus Nato, into violation of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). All Nato countries, except the United States, are party to the CTBT, which mandates a moratorium on nuclear weapons testing.
New nuclear weapons designs would require tests, and while the United States is not a CTBT signatory and the Bush administration has expressed its inclination not to present the CTBT to Congress for ratification, weapons developed as a result of nuclear testing could be incorporated into Nato nuclear policy, making all other members of Nato in violation of their CTBT obligations.
While the need for new nuclear weapons and their efficacy as a military tool is questionable, “the US nuclear weapons establishment is itching to design new weapons”, Dr Arjun Makhijani, IEER’s president, said at the release of the report.
Makhijani also speculated that because of the strength and influence of the nuclear weapons lobby in Washington, the new initiatives are pork-barrel projects rather than issues of military necessity.
“In essence, the US is saying to the rest of the world: ‘you can’t have nukes, but we’re going to have bigger and better ones’”, said Clyde Prestowitz, the author of “Rogue Nation”.
US non-compliance with the NPT and CBTB may encourage nations to develop their own nuclear arsenals or make nations reluctant to uphold non-proliferation commitments, some experts worry.
The report called for Nato allies to launch efforts to denuclearize Nato and to encourage the US to abandon plans to develop nuclear programmes.
Makhijani called for a “soft diplomacy” approach from Nato allies.—Dawn/The InterPress News Service.