Preface: The Npt Despite It All

摘要

The Nuclear non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), imagined between Nuclear Weapon States (NWS) and Non Nuclear Weapon States (NNWS), is intended to limit the spread of nuclear weapons and promote disarmament. The universality of the Treaty has been quasi reached. Horizontal proliferation has progressed, but outside the NPT (Israel, India and Pakistan). Even though it is not perfectly applied, the NPT has managed to contain access to nuclear weapons. The number of countries aspiring to become NWS has gradually declined, while around 50 states have mastered nuclear research or built nuclear reactors, making them capable of crossing with ease the nuclear weapons threshold. The effectiveness of the NPT has been demonstrated.