In his latest report for BASIC, Dr Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh argues that the Biden Administration should use its control of the US Senate majority to seek to ratify the Rarotonga and Pelindaba treaties — and use it to show its commitment to disarmament at the NPT Review Conference in January 2022. Those two treaties, he argues, require the least international coordination for the greatest international benefit.
In addition to exploring the importance of NWFZs, the Briefing argues:
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The Treaties of Pelindaba and Rarotonga need US ratification of their Protocols in order to become legally-binding on the Nuclear Weapon States.
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Although the two Treaties have been assigned to the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, none of the committee’s chairs have yet scheduled the treaties for hearing. Treaties remain at this stage for years.
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The Biden Administration should seek to start the Senate approval process. Even if these hearings ultimately fail due a lack of majority Democratic control of the Senate, doing so would have the benefit of raising their status and legitimacy in US foreign policy debates.
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Read the full briefing here:
Views expressed belong solely to the original author of the article and do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of BASIC.