The 8^th Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) has started yesterday and it is already seen as a trustworthiness test for the participating countries, including for the USA and Barack Obama. Many world leaders are attending, but the fear of not moving forward in these matters is eminent.

Forty years ago, the agreement was signed by 189 countries, including Russia, China, France, United kingdom and Iran, according to which the International Atomic Energy Agency was tasked with carrying out three missions: eliminating nuclear arms, preventing a proliferation of nuclear weapons, and assisting NPT signatories to use nuclear energy for civilian purposes.

However, the IAEA has not been able to fulfill its obligations adequately and even some countries have acquired nuclear weapons since the NPT treaty went into effect.

One of the key debates will be the so called “Additional Protocol”, that requires that the disarmed states can have frequent inspections by the IAEA as a preventive measure.

There is an erroneous focus in the non proliferation instead of centering the approach in the disarmament, which could originate the real solution of the problem – the resolution has to be a nuclear free world. But there were little steps in this direction in the last years.  Disarmament is often taken as a bilateral issue dominated by the world nuclear potencies as it happened on last month with the START signing between the North Americans and the Russians.

Israel is one of the nations out of the conference, after Turkey and Egypt saying that the nuclear armament of the country would be one of the main issues on the table, but to pursue with the negotiations all Middle East countries should be present.

At the same time, the international NGO-conference “For a nuclear- free, peaceful, just and sustainable world” is happening in the heart of NYC. The abolition of nuclear weapons but also the causal relationship between war and violation of democratic rights, war and environmental destruction and social devastation are in the center of the debate, as Christiane Reymann, member of the Party of the European Left said: “The peace movements from all over the world desire to deepen and to broaden their cooperation. That is what they pointed out in the final resolution of their conference. Introducing the declaration, Reiner Braun, member of the international prep-group out of 25 organizations, characterized it as “internationally” and “visionary”.  And further: “We want a world without poverty, hunger, social injustice and destroyed nature. In a dialectical way: a fair world is only possible with peace, on the contrary, justice is impossible without peace. And for both, human and woman rights are an essential part.”

On the 2^nd May, Ban Ki-moon reminded Article IV of the Nonproliferation Treaty which demands negotiations on the complete and general disarmament under international control. He underlined: “These negations are long overdue” and he called on all countries, particularly the nuclear weapon states, “to fulfill this obligation.”

Let’s now hope for the 28th to see if the NTP moves forward from the unsteadiness, inequity and asymmetry that has been characterizing it.