Rising nuclear risk, disarmament and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Contents

Appendix 3: Call for Evidence

As a result of rising tensions between nuclear-armed states and the fragmenting of existing non-proliferation and arms control agreements, nuclear weapons are on the international agenda in a way they have not been since the end of the Cold War.

The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), along with other components of the nuclear non-proliferation regime, form a critical pillar of the rules-based international order. Since the NPT’s most recent Review Conference in 2015 there have been significant developments affecting the proliferation, development and use of nuclear weapons. The United States has taken the step of withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal, opened negotiations with North Korea, and announced its intention to pull out of the Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) with Russia. Meanwhile, nuclear-armed states have begun significant modernisation programmes, with the United States and Russia signalling the substantial expansion of future capabilities and considering the use of nuclear weapons in the battlefield.

Rising nuclear tensions have been accompanied by a growing dissatisfaction amongst proponents of nuclear disarmament. In 2017, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (commonly referred to as the Ban Treaty) opened for signature, further widening the divide between nuclear-armed states (and their allies) and proponents of disarmament.

In this context, the House of Lords International Relations Committee is launching an inquiry into the NPT and nuclear disarmament, during which it will examine the state of global nuclear diplomacy and the United Kingdom’s role in it. During this inquiry the Committee will focus on the non-proliferation and disarmament aspects of the NPT, and not consider directly the civilian use of nuclear energy.

Nuclear risk

The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty

The United States

Nuclear arms control

Nuclear modernisation programmes

New technologies

The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons

The P5

The role of the UK





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