A Nuclear-Weapon-Free Southern Hemisphere

Abstract

Nuclear-weapon-free zones (NWFZ) are regionally derived initiatives. In this regard they are qualitatively different from other parts of the international nuclear weapons and arms control agenda where the initiative derives substantially from the acknowledged nuclear-weapons states (NWS). For all practical purposes this means that the lion’s share of the nuclear security discourse and agenda is promoted, indeed defined, by those acknowledged NWS. The stage reached on the international agenda — with the indefinite renewal of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in 1995, and the adoption of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) Advisory Opinion on the legality of nuclear weapons in 1996 — has refocused attention on NWFZ and their utility in advancing matters further down the twin tracks of genuine non-proliferation and real nuclear disarmament.