Global cooperation on nuclear disarmament looks even further away

(Georgia Cole – Chatham House) The 2026 Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) Review Conference concluded on 22 May without a consensus outcome document. It is the third time in a row that states parties have failed to agree on a review of the treaty’s implementation and progress, or to set out a plan to support and strengthen the treaty’s implementation. However, this failure was different from the last. In 2022, it was Russia alone that blocked agreement, following its invasion of Ukraine. This year, multiple countries were prepared to hinder progress. The fractures ran across the ‘P5’ – the UN Security Council permanent members, all of whom are classed as ‘nuclear-weapon’ states and are the only countries permitted to possess nuclear weapons under the treaty. (Other nuclear armed countries are not parties to the treaty). But what happened in New York was not a targeted disruption. It was the latest sign of a non-proliferation system under strain in an increasingly dysfunctional environment. – Global cooperation on nuclear disarmament looks even further away | Chatham House – International Affairs Think Tank