Nuclear non-proliferation treaty is dead - race on to get nukes
'The Treaty on the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons of 1968 enshrines a bargain between states with the bomb and those without it. Under Article Six, the 182 signatory nations that don't have nukes promised not to acquire them, while the five officially recognised nuclear powers agreed to negotiate in good faith to reduce and ultimately eliminate their arsenals. But, says a former director of alliance policy at the Australian Defence Department, Ron Huisken, a methodical analysis of American statements and actions in recent years would reveal "no trace of a commitment to Article Six".'

'The US's subsequent refusal to ratify the test ban treaty appears to have crushed any residual commitment to the issue that Australia might have had. Since then, Canberra has been wary of getting in front of Washington on disarmament.'

Australia must learn to develop its own foreign policy instead of taking one from the United States. Australia has to realise that the biggest rogue state in the world and the main breaker of international treaties is its erstwhile ally the US, and therefore learn to put its shoulder to the wheel on the US itself.

The NPT in fact provides the legal and international framework for general nuclear disarmament. It will have to be revived and implemented, no matter what. Let's hope this can be done before someone sets off a bomb.

Nuclear non-proliferation treaty is dead - race on to get nukes
'The Treaty on the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons of 1968 enshrines a bargain between states with the bomb and those without it. Under Article Six, the 182 signatory nations that don't have nukes promised not to acquire them, while the five officially recognised nuclear powers agreed to negotiate in good faith to reduce and ultimately eliminate their arsenals. But, says a former director of alliance policy at the Australian Defence Department, Ron Huisken, a methodical analysis of American statements and actions in recent years would reveal "no trace of a commitment to Article Six".'

'The US's subsequent refusal to ratify the test ban treaty appears to have crushed any residual commitment to the issue that Australia might have had. Since then, Canberra has been wary of getting in front of Washington on disarmament.'

Australia must learn to develop its own foreign policy instead of taking one from the United States. Australia has to realise that the biggest rogue state in the world and the main breaker of international treaties is its erstwhile ally the US, and therefore learn to put its shoulder to the wheel on the US itself.

The NPT in fact provides the legal and international framework for general nuclear disarmament. It will have to be revived and implemented, no matter what. Let's hope this can be done before someone sets off a bomb.