Introduction by Daniel Rietiker

The 2015 NPT Review Conference has ended in a failure on 22 May. No final document could be agreed upon by consensus. One of the major reasons was the lack of agreement on a possible conference (conference only!) on the establishment of a nuclear free zone in the Middle East, a question that is not even directly linked to one of the three pillars of the NPT. On the other hand, many positive aspects remain, in particular the fact that over 100 States adhered to the “Humanitarian Pledge”, initated by Austria.

It is probably a crucial moment for the NPT, many States having expressed their frustration about the Nuclear Weapons States not taking enough serious their disarmament duties under Article VI NPT. Does a world without nuclear weapons have to be achieved outside the NPT? The proposed article undertakes a broad analysis of the NPT Review Conference and discusses new avenues for nuclear disarmament. It was written by Alyn Ware, Basel Peace Office and consultant for arms control matters. He followed the entire 4 weeks of the NPT Review Conference.