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From 2000 to 2010 NPT RevCon: Are the 13 Practical Steps still Relevant?

The 1995 NPT Review Conference extended the treaty indefinitely. In the same Review Conference, Nuclear Weapon States repeated their resolve for total elimination of nuclear weapons by agreeing on a Program of Action (POF) which included some concrete steps towards disarmament. This program of action got its final shape in the form of 13 Practical Steps(13PS) towards nuclear disarmament, vigorously pursued by the New Agenda Coalition, to which the NWS agreed in the 2000 Review Conference.

However, eight years of Bush administration completely sidelined these commitments. In the 2005 Revcon, US and other NWS rejected the 13 Practical Steps. With the coming of President Obama, came a new era for nuclear disarmament. Committing the USA to nuclear disarmament and urging the rest of the world to move along, Obama administration has taken some positive steps.  START treaty has been negotiated and the new Nuclear Posture Review has tried to reduce the salience of nuclear weapons in the US national security. Meanwhile, many new approaches for achieving a world free of nuclear weapons have been promulgated such as The Evans-Kawaguchi Report, Abolishing Nuclear Weapons, The Hans Blix commission and the Global Zero Action Plan. In this new environment, the relevance of the 13PS is a pertinent question. Are the 13 Practical Steps still a useful guide for the goal of universal disarmament?

First, the 13 Practical Steps are by far the most comprehensive commitments which the NWS have ever made on nuclear disarmament. These embody a clear roadmap which the NWS need to take to fulfill the mandate under the Article VI of the NPT. They include measures such as bilateral arms control between US and Russia, Entry into Force of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and Fissile Material Ban Treaty, de-alerting of nuclear weapons, No First Use Commitments and Negative Security Assurances  by NWS, irreversible disarmament and an unequivocal undertaking by NWS to work towards complete elimination of nuclear weapons. These steps are essential for any workable plan one can possibly conceive for a positive movement towards nuclear disarmament. Moreover, the 13 Practical Steps are the only universally agreed and politically declared action plan for nuclear disarmament with in the NPT.

Second, the relevance of 13 Practical Steps depends much more on the attitude of state parties rather than any objective changes in the international politics. Not much has changed in the international political environment since the time of Bush administration. Iran is still suspected of proliferating and North Korea is defiant in its nuclear behavior. The threat of terrorism is still potent today. However, the renewed quest for nuclear disarmament is based on the ethos of multilateralism and international law evident in the approach of President Obama.  The change is only in the worldview which the new US administration has brought with itself in the Whitehouse. The revocation of the plans for ballistic missile defense systems in Europe by President Obama indicates the continuing relevance of the 13 Practical Steps.

The most significant evidence of the continuing relevance of the 13 Practical Steps is the 2010 NPT Review Conference. One of the key challenges for the 2010 Review Conference was the reaffirmation of the 13 Practical Steps by the NWS. The refusal to do so by the NWS in the 2005 was deemed the reason for the failure of the 2005 Review Conference.  In the discussions of the Main Committee 1 which dealt with the issue of nuclear disarmament, 13 Practical Steps were heavily debated upon and were supported by the NNWS. Members of the Non Aligned Movement, a block of more than 125 states, noted that the implementation of the 13 Practical Steps and the unequivocal undertaking of nuclear weapon states to eliminate their arsenals is crucial to the credibility of the NPT.

The Final draft of the Review Conference has reconfirmed the importance of the 13 Practical Steps. The Final Draft came up with a 22 point Action Plan on nuclear disarmament which is basically built upon the 13 Practical Steps. The high point of the Review Conference was the reaffirmation of the unequivocal undertaking by the NWS to eliminate nuclear weapons, which is also a reaffirmation of the 13 Practical Steps.  Many have considered this to be the marker for the success of the 2010 Review Conference.

However, the continuing relevance of 13 Practical Steps does not mean that these steps are cast in stone. The need of the time is to have a Time Bound Disarmament. The frustration in the NNWS states over the lax attitude of the NWS was very evident in the 2010 NPT Review Conference. Many states expressed a skeptical view of the new disarmament momentum and said that these are just cosmetic measures. The real advancement of disarmament would only be possible if time limits are attached to disarmament plans. For the first time, the NPT Final Draft has incorporated the need of Time Bound Disarmament. This should be considered as a welcome addition to the 13 Practical Steps.