Japan and the Nuclear Weapons ProhibitionTreaty: the wrong side of history, geography,legality, morality, and humanity
Date
2018
Authors
Thakur, Ramesh
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Routledge
Abstract
By refusing to sign the new UN Nuclear Weapons Prohibition Treaty, Japan has put itself on the wrong side of history, geography, legality, morality, and humanity. The treaty is part of the broad historically progressive trend since 1945 to limit and abolish nuclear weapons and their use. The normative architecture includes the Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT), the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, the Nuclear Suppliers Group, regional nuclear weapon-free zones, the Proliferation Security Initiative, and the International Atomic Energy Agency. Geographically, global nuclear risks and threats exist in especially acute form in the Asia-Pacific and most states of the region voted solidly for the ban treaty. The NPT’s legal obligation to eliminate nuclear weapons was strengthened by the World Court’s Advisory Opinion in 1996. Most countries and peoples of the world overwhelmingly abhor the bomb as deeply immoral. The ban treaty expresses their collective moral revulsion and is rooted in humanitarian principles.
Description
Keywords
Nuclear Weapons Prohibition Treaty, NPT, nuclear deterrence, nuclear umbrella, Japan, humanity
Citation
Collections
Source
Journal of Peace and Nuclear
Type
Journal article
Book Title
Entity type
Access Statement
Open Access
License Rights
Creative Commons Attribution License
Restricted until
Downloads
File
Description