P5 should help make NPT a success

P5 should better support NPT

The role of the P5 within the NPT has become a topic in itself. This is good news, for a primary reason that the world is safer when nuclear weapon states work together than when they act against each other.

For some time now, the specific involvement of the P5 in the NPT review process has dealt with nuclear disarmament. This involvement is generally perceived to involve efforts toward transparency, progress in conceptualizing verification procedures for nuclear disarmament and, in a more traditional way, the process of bilateral strategic reductions under the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty.

In doing so, the P5 indicate a particular commitment to nuclear disarmament and indeed, they historically have the responsibility to lead the discussions about nuclear disarmament, as far as it is conceived as a long term, reasonable and realistic process. But that's not enough for them to qualify for their role.

It is advisable to add two responsibilities: the responsibility to ensure that the NPT is a security instrument for every party, which means that proliferation concerns, non-compliance, or the abusing of the right of withdrawal are the major constraints to the nuclear disarmament process; and the responsibility to lead by example and to be perceived as a group of supporters and not as a group of challengers, collectively or individually.

The step-by-step approach to nuclear disarmament is precisely one realistic way to behave positively and responsibly in a time of strategic surprises.

Benjamin Hautecouverture, research fellow, the Foundation for Strategic Research, France.