May 10, 2018

The Treaty on the Prohibition on the Nuclear Weapons

Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung - New York

With North Korea having now presumably equipped itself with a nuclear arsenal, and President Donald Trump having announced his intention to pull the United States out of the Iran Nuclear Deal, the international geopolitical situation would seem to grow more complicated by the day. At the same time, new global risks arise in the form of potential cyber-attacks and the possibility of terrorist groups targeting nuclear facilities. It would seem that the tendency is toward a world with more nuclear arms instead of less.

However, the forces resisting the nuclear arms race have not been idle either. A majority of governments and peoples are immensely frustrated by the lack of progress in nuclear disarmament. Last year, government representatives, representatives of civil society organizations, experts, and survivors of atomic disasters gathered for the first session of the “UN Conference to Negotiate a Legally Binding Instrument to prohibit Nuclear weapons, leading towards their total Elimination.” Over 130 countries and more than 220 NGOs joined the negotiations. The main goal of the ban treaty is to establish a clear legal standard rejecting atomic weapons on humanitarian and environmental grounds while reaffirming already existing international law. It does not ensure the elimination of these weapons, but it does set new grounds to work toward that goal.

In this joint brochure, the International Peace Bureau and the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung—New York Office take a closer look at the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Don’t miss the collected interviews and articles—because if we want nuclear disarmament, we need to arm ourselves with the very best arguments.

And join us on May 12 for the international conference “Two Minutes to Midnight: How Do We Move from Geopolitical Conflict to Nuclear Abolition?” International experts and activists will analyze the current nuclear dangers, raising the UN Nuclear Weapon Ban Treaty and other disarmament initiatives to build a movement for peace and complete nuclear disarmament.


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