Recent and upcoming nonproliferation activities, events, and announcements involving the CNS center, staff, and programs.

Updated: May 28, 2010

2010 Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty Review Conference Adopts Final Document with Substantive Recommendations

After four weeks of public deliberations and private meetings and years of preparations, the states- party to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty successfully produced a final document with specific substantive recommendations for future action. While the final language was not as sweeping as the landmark 1995 and 2000 treaty review conference, this year's gathering succeeded in sustaining the momentum that developed after President Obama called last year in Prague for moving toward a world free of nuclear weapons.

While most delegations were focused on prolonged deliberations over various drafts of texts from the three Main Committees and their associated Subsidiary Bodies, the real decision-making process took place behind closed doors in New York and in national capitals, and involved a very small subset of NPT States Parties. The content of these parallel, private negotiations remain largely unknown. What can be gleaned from conversations with some of those involved with these behind-the-scene deliberations is that a deal appeared to be in the works to which the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), most of the P-5, and Iran—among others—could agree. This deal reportedly included a number of the Action Items from the Conference presidents' draft report, although watered down substantially with respect to the disarmament, nonproliferation, and treaty withdrawal provisions from earlier versions. It also contained the key elements of a committee draft pledging to hold in 2012 an "initial" conference, including both Iran and Israel, on establishing a zone free of weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East, and for the UN Secretary-General to appoint a facilitator to encourage the realization of such a zone

The success of the Conference comes at a particularly important time, as tensions mount on the Korean Peninsula, the UN Security Council is poised to consider another sanctions resolution on Iran, and the U.S. president seeks to advance an ambitious arms control and disarmament agenda before an increasingly skeptical Congress. It is difficult to assess precisely how the successful outcome of the 2010 NPT Review Conference will impact on these other developments. But a failure would have dealt a sharp setback to President Obama's vision of a world without nuclear weapons.

"I am pleased that States Parties to the NPT were able to unite for the common good of the Treaty," said Patricia Lewis, deputy director of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) of the Monterey Institute of International Studies. "There were and remain serious differences about the pace of disarmament, concerns over proliferation and the safeguarding of civil nuclear energy but the adoption of the action plan demonstrates that the grand bargain NPT is back on track and there is again an international consensus on which we can build. The decision to hold a conference to move forward on establishing a zone free of nuclear weapons and other WMD in the Middle East is particularly significant and CNS looks forward to continuing its work to develop intellectual content for the process."

The James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) of the Monterey Institute of International Studies boasts an unmatched group of experts on the developments in New York. Three staff members served on delegations at the review conference and can offer an insider's perspective on its outcome. Other CNS experts can offer unique expertise on U.S. policy and the issues surrounding the effort to create a Middle East nuclear-weapons-free zone.