Originally published on the CGS blog on May 5, 2010.
The Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference has just wrapped up its 3rd day in what has been a highly charged arena: the place of a showdown between the U.S. and Iran and historic announcements from the U.S. and Indonesia.
On the first day, President Ahmadinejad’s deriding speech was met with sharp criticism from Secretary Clinton and Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Iranian cooperation with the IAEA. Ahmadinejad insists that nuclear developments have peaceful intentions, but there is good reason to suspect that this is not the case. Thus far, Iran has made more enemies than friends. This might even be an opportunity for President Obama to garner support for a fourth round of sanctions against Iran and strengthen the role of the IAEA in monitoring Iran’s development of nuclear capabilities. Plus, with Iran in the spotlight, the divide between the nuclear haves and have-nots seems less stark.
Secretary Clinton spoke after Ahmadinejad, making the long-awaited announcement that the U.S. arsenal contains 5, 113 deployed warheads (as of September 2009). The U.S. has never before released this number. It is down from 31, 255 in 1967, when the U.S. nuclear arsenal was at its height. Still, some NGOs estimate that there are 4,600 in reserve.
Indonesia announced that it has initiated the process of ratifying the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), which bans all nuclear testing and explosions. The treaty has not entered into force, as key states (like the U.S.) have refused to ratify it. Given that Indonesia had previously demanded that the U.S. ratify the CTBT first, Indonesia’s move toward ratification is an essential signal that countries are increasingly willing to give up their nuclear ambitions. In response to the announcement, the U.S. has restated the administration’s commitment to ratification, but it’s still not clear when the issue will be raised in the Senate.
We will see what the coming days will bring in the NPT
