Nuclear weapons: arms control, proliferation and nuclear security

The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) today released a new Special Report on the issue of nuclear arms control, proliferation and nuclear security.   The nuclear arms control agenda currently enjoys a prominence that it has not had since the first half of the 1990s.  This report, authored by Rod Lyon, explores a range of issues, including President Obama’s Prague commitments, the looming Global Nuclear Security Summit, and the scheduled Nonproliferation Treaty Review Conference. 

The report argues that nuclear weapons still pose a dilemma for the world—they are immensely destructive and dangerous, but they are also an important guarantor of international security.  Because we honestly don’t know what global security would look like without nuclear weapons, there is scant hope of achieving nuclear disarmament in the near term.  The report says Australia benefits most from arms control agreements that enhance strategic stability and improve crisis management.  ‘Good arms control is about more than weapons numbers, doctrinal declarations, and signatures on treaties—it fits and complements strategic needs.’

Further, there are distinct gains to be made from clarifying the agreements that exist now (like the NPT) and making them more relevant to the evolving nuclear landscape. More and more countries are acquiring nuclear skills, and that will make the problem of proliferation a more pressing one in the years ahead.  The global community has to wean itself off its current behaviour in regard to proliferators, whereby it habitually slides from opposition to acquiescence as each new program develops. 

Finally, the report recommends a concerted effort to improve the security of nuclear materials, arguing that ‘enhanced nuclear security arrangements probably offer the biggest gains in global and regional security for the lowest investments.’  It sees Obama’s call to strengthen security over existing nuclear materials, and use the next four years the better to lock down vulnerable nuclear materials, as ‘especially timely.’