By Sergio Duarte
The writer is President of Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs.
NEW YORK (IDN) – On July 1, 2018 the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) will celebrate the fiftieth aniversary of its opening for signature. Although criticised as discriminatory for establishing different rights and obligations for nuclear and non-nuclear Parties, since that date in 1968 a total of 191 States have acceded to the Treaty, making it one of the most successful instruments in the field of arms control.
Only four countries among the members of the United Nations are not Party to it. While several different factors can explain the fact that so far the majority of nations have chosen not to acquire nuclear weapons the NPT can certainly be credited as instrumental in this regard.