MPI Analysis
Palais des Nations
United Nations, Geneva
May 9, 2003
 The Chair of the Middle Powers Initiative, Senator Douglas Roche, O.C., is Canada's former Disarmament Ambassador. He followed the Second NPT Preparatory Committee Meeting in Geneva, which took place from April 28 to May 9, 2003.
To download Senator Roche's Report and Assessment of the Second PrepCom, go to the following link:
- "The 2003 PrepCom: A Ritualistic Façade" (PDF).
To download the two attachments to Senator Roche's Report, go to:
- Chairman Molnar's Factual Statement (PDF);
- UN Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs Jayantha Dhanapala's speech "The NPT -- Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow" (website).
CONTENTS
Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2
1. North Korea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2. Iran . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
3. Tensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
4. Terrorism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
5. The Safeguards System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
6. Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization . . . . . . . . . .9
7. New Agenda Coalition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
8. Non-Aligned Movement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
9. High Level Action? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11
10. NGO Statements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13
11. The Moral Case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20
12. Conclusion: Assessment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
SUMMARY
By Senator Douglas Roche, O.C.
Chair, Middle Powers Initiative
With North Korea withdrawing from the Treaty, Iran under attack for its nuclear program, the U.S. in the midst of developing a new "bunker buster" nuclear weapon, the Mayor of Hiroshima warning that "we stand today on the brink of hyper-proliferation and perhaps of repeating the third actual use of nuclear weapons," the New Agenda countries complaining that there is "no sign" of efforts to involve all five nuclear weapons states in nuclear disarmament, France and Germany calling for a Summit Meeting of the U.N. Security Council on the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and the Non-Aligned Movement once more calling for comprehensive negotiations for a Nuclear Weapons Convention to eliminate all nuclear weapons - the Second Preparatory Meeting of the 2005 Review of the Non-Proliferation Treaty was held in Geneva April 28-May 9, 2003. It was chaired by Ambassador Laszlo Molnar of Hungary. Cuba, one of the last holdouts, joined the 188-member Treaty on October 1, 2002.
As occurred at the end of the first PrepComm in 2002, delegates adopted a procedural report, to which was annexed the "Chairman's Factual Summary" (Appendix "A") listing various points of view on the NPT's key issues: nuclear non-proliferation, disarmament and international security, nuclear-weapon-free zones, safeguards, and the peaceful use of nuclear energy. Recommendations for action will be discussed only at the Third PrepComm, to be held April 26-May 7, 2004 in New York.
Though the proliferation of nuclear weapons has become a central subject in international discussions, the speeches (one could hardly call them debates) at the Second PrepComm were, for the most part, desultory and ritualistic. The concept of "interactivity" was introduced, in which some states posed questions of others, but the answers were deferred. One would never sense from listening to the representatives of the major states the gravity of this new moment, where new doctrines concerning the use of a new generation of nuclear weapons are underway. It was as if actors of the 106 participating countries were going through the motions, constructing a sort of façade, while outside the assembly the non-proliferation regime is eroding. Severe warnings to this effect were given during a morning devoted to 11 presentations by the representatives of 37 non-governmental organizations. But the NGOs were shut out of the discussions once the general debate concluded. The questions of compliance, enforcement, proper funding for the International Atomic Energy Agency, and putting a spotlight on the central bargain of the NPT - that the nuclear weapons states would eliminate their nuclear weapons in return for all other states not acquiring nuclear weapons - were put off for another day.
To download Senator Roche's Report and Assessment of the Second PrepCom in its entirety, go to the following link:
- "The 2003 PrepCom: A Ritualistic Façade" (PDF). |
