This week, BASIC formally launches the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Monitor, a free web tool to enhance and simplify the monitoring of countries’ progress on the landmark 1970 treaty. It provides clear, evidence-based information on how states are implementing the 2010 NPT Action Plan, tracking progress across the NPT’s three pillars: disarmament, non-proliferation, and peaceful uses of nuclear science and technologies.
By gathering official information on different countries into one place, the Monitor acts as an accessible and straightforward tool to track information on states’ NPT commitments. Data can be filtered by country, pillar, or each of the 64 action points from the 2010 Action Plan — which marked the last time an NPT Review Conference concluded with a clear path forward.
BASIC designed the tool after the NPT community flagged the need for a comprehensive, impartial, and accessible framework to better understand states’ progress on their treaty commitments. It builds on admirable monitoring work carried out by civil society organisations over many years but which did not continue into the 11th NPT Review Cycle: the NPT Monitor picks up where they left off.
The idea is that people around the world — whether policymakers, diplomats, researchers, journalists, or the public at large — can draw on the Monitor to inform conversations around nuclear accountability and keep up pressure on states to fulfil their NPT obligations.
The Monitor pivots on principles of objectivity and trust. To make it as robust and trustworthy as possible, it prioritises the use of verifiable government data rather than open-source data or speculation: the focus is firmly on information and data, not analysis or opinion. Primary sources include official reports to the NPT and from government bodies. Secondary data, such as reports or papers published in journals, is only used in cases where primary data is missing or imprecise. These findings are collected by country experts – native speakers from the country at hand – before being anonymously peer-reviewed, revised where necessary, and published on the NPT Monitor. Throughout the process, the team received support from a wide range of international experts and a dedicated Advisory Board.
The hope is that this rigorous, peer-reviewed process will make the Monitor a go-to source of trusted information now and in years to come.
Currently, the Monitor focuses on the five nuclear-weapon States (NWS): China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The Monitor will be a living resource, which will go through two rounds of updates during each five-year NPT Review Cycle. Alongside the Monitor, the team have also published a Thematic Database that houses every paper published as part of the NPT Review Cycle, across diverse themes — from dialogue and disarmament to women, peace, and security.
The Monitor launches at a critical time for global security, with talk of a new nuclear arms race and the (re-)emergence of key nuclear flashpoints, such as in Iran and the Korean Peninsula, and intense conflict in the Middle East and Ukraine.
“Within a fragmenting geopolitical context, where nuclear risks and international tensions are increasing, it is essential to strengthen transparency around states’ NPT commitments,” says Dr Manuel Herrera, NPT Monitor Project Manager. “Transparency opens up spaces for evidence-based dialogue on the Treaty, and with dialogue comes the potential for breakthroughs on nuclear disarmament — breakthroughs the world urgently needs.”
Sebastian Brixey-Williams, BASIC’s Executive Director, says: “The developing nuclear arms race, collapse of bilateral arms control, and weakening of multilateral governance regimes call for civil society to revitalise efforts on nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament. With the NPT Monitor, BASIC provides civil society, policymakers, and researchers alike with an invaluable tool to identify priorities and gaps, forge coalitions, and re-energise the nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament agenda.”
In September, BASIC will run a webinar to provide guidance on how to use the Monitor, alongside an expert panel discussion on what the data means for NPT accountability. For more information, please contact NPT Monitor Project Manager, Dr Manuel Herrera, at [email protected].
The NPT Monitor is funded by Global Affairs Canada and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands