Posted on: Apr 1st 2011 The great destructive power of the first
atomic bomb persuaded many leaders of the need to constrain that
power. Thus was born the goal of nonproliferation and the search
for a nonproliferation regime: a set of norms, rules,
institutions, and practices to prevent both the spread of
nuclear weapons and the material and know-how necessary to
acquire them. The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) of 1968
established such a regime, but today’s challenges threaten its
stability and effectiveness. Only measures to reinforce the
relationship between verifiable disarmament by the existing
nuclear powers and nonproliferation by non-nuclear states can
strengthen cooperation and make us all more secure. The United
States alone could not stop the spread of nuclear weapons. Once
the Soviet Union acquired the bomb in 1949 and others prepared
to follow, nonproliferation became feasible only through
cooperation. This was not simple. Not only would geopolitical
adversaries have to agree, but states t