NPT review conference and significance of nukes

THE eleventh Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty ended without consensus on May 23, 2026. Nevertheless, participants underscored the escalating dangers of nuclear proliferation and the heightened probability of nuclear weapons use. The protracted Ukrainian war, Israel’s and the United States’ invasion of Iran and the breakdown of bilateral arms control treaties between Russia and the US have all severely undermined the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Regime. The NPT was introduced at the height of the Cold War and signed on 1 July 1968. It entered into force in March 1970. It went into effect with almost 100 states as original signatories and today counts 191 state parties. Its scope included disarmament, arms control and proliferation of nuclear technology for the civilian application or “peaceful” use of the atom for nuclear power generation, medical treatment and improving agricultural yield. The NPT Review Conference is held every five years. The NPT has created a discriminatory nuclear order by dividing the world into nuclear “haves” (countries that tested nuclear weapons before 1967) and “have-nots” (everyone else). Therefore, the Treaty recognizes only five states as legitimate nuclear-weapon states: the United States, Russia, China, France and the United Kingdom. This discriminatory structure undermines the moral and legal legitimacy of the Treaty. Pakistan participated in the NPT draft negotiations but has refrained from joining the Treaty. It tested nuclear weapons on May 28, 1998 and has systematically advanced its nuclear arsenal. India, Israel, South Sudan and North Korea are not members of the Treaty. North Korea is the only state to have joined the NPT and withdrawn from it in 2003. The withdrawal of Pyongyang from the Treaty has strengthened pro-nuclear lobbies in South Korea and Japan. They viewed that nuclear weapon as a “currency” of power, able to deter the nuclear-armed adversary—North Korea. However, Japan and South Korea refrai