A Regime on the Edge? How Replacing Trident Undermines the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Dr. Nick Ritchie, November 2008
The government claims its decision to replace the current Trident nuclear weapons system will have no effect on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and wider efforts to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons. This assertion is wrong. This briefing paper argues that:
1. The NPT embodies two crucial norms: a norm against nuclear proliferation and a norm of progress towards nuclear disarmament.
2. A strong NPT is vital for British and global security but the strength of the treaty and compliance with its norms is based on its perceived legitimacy.
3. The vast majority of states accept that the NPT’s legitimacy rests on concrete progress towards both nuclear non-proliferation and nuclear disarmament.
4. Support for actions to reinforce the non-proliferation norm are therefore increasingly dependent upon progress towards nuclear disarmament by the nuclear powers.
5. Britain’s decision to renew Trident can only reinforce the value of nuclear weapons, the logic of nuclear deterrence, and the prospect of the indefinite possession of nuclear weapons by the nuclear powers.
6.This can only weaken the treaty’s legitimacy by undermining the norm of progress towards nuclear disarmament with it the legitimacy of efforts to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons.
7. Arguments that possession of nuclear weapons by Britain and the West is ‘good’ and their possession by those hostile to or not allied with the West is ‘bad’ only serves to legitimise the general existence of nuclear weapons and undermine the NPT’s legitimacy.
Download the report here
Dr. Nick Ritchie
Department of Peace Studies
University of Bradford
Bradford UK
BD7 1DP
Email: n.ritchie@bradford.ac.uk
Tel: +44 (0)1274 236860
