March 5, 2026
Jean du Preez
The following is an excerpt from Arms Control Association.
Many nonproliferation pundits predict that the 2026 nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference, scheduled for April 27-May 22 in New York, will again fail to reach consensus, following the failures of the last two review cycles. Some say that another failure would render the treaty irrelevant, consigning the centerpiece of the international nonproliferation regime to the ever-increasing list of relics of Cold War agreements.
The divides among delegations on issues central to the NPT since its inception are as wide, if not wider, today than they were in 1995, when solemn promises were made to secure an indefinite extension of the treaty, without which it was argued the treaty would face a rather unstable future. As it turns out, 26 years later, the future of the treaty still looks rather bleak.
The 1995 NPT Review and Extension Conference is one of the most significant moments in treaty history, and possibly most controversial. Its outcome was crucial for subsequent review conferences, including the successful meetings in 2000 and 2010. Yet key agreements achieved at these conferences have been long forgotten, if not shredded. Despite major differences among delegations before the 1995 Review and Extension Conference and the failed NPT preparatory committee meeting in 1999, the goals of the 1995 and 2000 conferences were to secure the NPT’s relevance and future. These outcomes were not easily achieved. They required strong commitment from states-parties to seek visionary solutions and creative leadership from key diplomatic participants.
Continue reading at Arms Control Association.
