Jeffrey LewisRegional Nuclear Weapons Free Zones

I hate posting on top of Josh’s fantastic AQ Khan post. Go read that first.

I don’t think I got around to mentioning the article on regional nuclear weapons free zones that I wrote for Janes Intelligence Review (Regional restraint – The uses of nuclear weapons-free zones):

Nevertheless, on balance a well-designed NWFZ treaty can complement universal approaches to non-proliferation by making explicit the ‘good neighbour’ bargain embodied in the NPT and allowing countries within a region to create obligations tailored to particular regional concerns.

“Well-designed” is the magic word — negative security assurances and provisions regarding transit ought to be designed to elicit support from the nuclear weapons states. (Something I discussed in an August 2009 African Nuclear Weapon Free Zone post that led to the longer article).

The issue of what constitutes a ‘well-designed” zone from the perspective of a nuclear weapons state is the subject of a talk I am giving at a day-long event hosted by USIP and the Eliot School to follow Ambassador Jayntha Dhanapala’s talk on Tuesday night. You can’t RSVP for the day-long conference exacly, but if you go to the form to RSVP for Dhanapala’s talk, you can ask to receive more information about the conference itself.

Comments

  1. anon

    So will the US support a nuclear weapons free middle east zone? Instead of sanctions on Iran perhaps sanctions on the country already possessing nukes in the middle east are needed.

    Just a crazy crazy idea.