Washington summit on nuclear security
Saturday, 17 April 2010
The dream of a world without nuclear weapons got a tremendous boost when President Barack Obama declared in his Prague speech on April 5, 2009: "I state clearly and with conviction America's commitment to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons." Obama's statement was appreciated and taken seriously all over the world as he was the first American president to publicly admit US guilt of Hiroshima and Nagasaki nuclear holocaust. He said in the same speech that as the only nuclear power to have used a nuclear weapon, the United States has a moral responsibility to act." He balanced the vision of achieving a nuclear-free world, which may need efforts of generations, with the immediate need of securing the world from the danger of nuclear terrorism. To begin with, he said, America would host a "Global Summit on Nuclear Security" within a year.
Obama has kept his word. The 47-nation nuclear summit, held in Washington on April 12-13, has demonstrated the will of the world at the highest political level to effectively deal with the issues of nuclear weapons in general and potential nuclear terrorism, in particular. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), there were 1500 cases of nuclear material lost or stolen during 1993 to 2008; the amount of material in stock, which is vulnerable to theft, is about 2,000 tonnes with which can be made 100,000 to 200,000 atomic bombs. Since 1993, there have, besides, been 15 clandestine attempts at smuggling and selling fissile materials. Appropriately, the communique issued at the end of the two-day summit noted "nuclear terrorism is one of the most challenging threats to international security and strong nuclear security measure the most effective means to prevent terrorist criminals or other unauthorised actors from acquiring nuclear materials". The communique, which is accompanied by a seven-point action plan, is a non-binding declaration by the participating states, based on the primary responsibility of all states, nuclear as well as non-nuclear, to secure nuclear materials. The next summit on nuclear security will be held in South Korea in 2012.
The nuclear security summit was preceded by the signing of a new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) between America and Russia by President Obama and President Dmitri A. Medvedev on April 8. This strengthened the credentials of Obama as the convenor of the first world summit on nuclear security. During the summit, a large number of countries, including the US, Russia, China, Great Britain, India, Ukraine, Mexico, Chile, Kazakhstan, Vietnam and Canada, made a series of pledges on securing nuclear materials or ratifying UN conventions on nuclear security. The nuclear security summit will be followed by a global conference on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in New York in May. Thus, a momentum has been created in the global movement to ensure nuclear security, as an immediate concern, and to gradually progress towards nuclear disarmament.
However, reaching a consensus among the states on securing nuclear materials from the terrorists is apparently easy compared to the complex issues of non-proliferation of nuclear weapons among the states which are still non-nuclear; punishing the states which are secretly armed with nuclear weapons; bringing all the nuclear countries under the discipline of NPT; achieving nuclear arms reduction, leading to eventual general nuclear disarmament. Besides, Obama is not a mere visionary, he has already displayed his talent in practising realpolitick. He has been doggedly pursing the agenda of imposing "biting" sanctions against Iran and North Korea but has been following the traditional American policy of maintaining a stoic silence over the secret nuclear arming of Israel. There is, therefore, no scope for complacency.
Obama has kept his word. The 47-nation nuclear summit, held in Washington on April 12-13, has demonstrated the will of the world at the highest political level to effectively deal with the issues of nuclear weapons in general and potential nuclear terrorism, in particular. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), there were 1500 cases of nuclear material lost or stolen during 1993 to 2008; the amount of material in stock, which is vulnerable to theft, is about 2,000 tonnes with which can be made 100,000 to 200,000 atomic bombs. Since 1993, there have, besides, been 15 clandestine attempts at smuggling and selling fissile materials. Appropriately, the communique issued at the end of the two-day summit noted "nuclear terrorism is one of the most challenging threats to international security and strong nuclear security measure the most effective means to prevent terrorist criminals or other unauthorised actors from acquiring nuclear materials". The communique, which is accompanied by a seven-point action plan, is a non-binding declaration by the participating states, based on the primary responsibility of all states, nuclear as well as non-nuclear, to secure nuclear materials. The next summit on nuclear security will be held in South Korea in 2012.
The nuclear security summit was preceded by the signing of a new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) between America and Russia by President Obama and President Dmitri A. Medvedev on April 8. This strengthened the credentials of Obama as the convenor of the first world summit on nuclear security. During the summit, a large number of countries, including the US, Russia, China, Great Britain, India, Ukraine, Mexico, Chile, Kazakhstan, Vietnam and Canada, made a series of pledges on securing nuclear materials or ratifying UN conventions on nuclear security. The nuclear security summit will be followed by a global conference on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in New York in May. Thus, a momentum has been created in the global movement to ensure nuclear security, as an immediate concern, and to gradually progress towards nuclear disarmament.
However, reaching a consensus among the states on securing nuclear materials from the terrorists is apparently easy compared to the complex issues of non-proliferation of nuclear weapons among the states which are still non-nuclear; punishing the states which are secretly armed with nuclear weapons; bringing all the nuclear countries under the discipline of NPT; achieving nuclear arms reduction, leading to eventual general nuclear disarmament. Besides, Obama is not a mere visionary, he has already displayed his talent in practising realpolitick. He has been doggedly pursing the agenda of imposing "biting" sanctions against Iran and North Korea but has been following the traditional American policy of maintaining a stoic silence over the secret nuclear arming of Israel. There is, therefore, no scope for complacency.