Right time for building global nuclear security
12-04-2010
By Nursultan Nazarbayev (article in Chicago Tribune, April 11, 2010)
The threat of uncontrolled expansion of the "nuclear club" is one of the most serious challenges of the 21st century and unless the international community shows political will, more and more countries may acquire nuclear weapons.
Unfortunately, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty is not living up to its billing. It does not give international inspectors access to nuclear facilities and allows participants to withdraw from the treaty without consequences, further eroding its effectiveness.
That is why Kazakhstan is working hard to strengthen the treaty and ensure its universality.
We have also proposed a new treaty that would guarantee clear obligations on the part of signatory governments and define real sanctions for those who fail to observe the terms of the agreement.
First of all, though, we favor a complete ban on nuclear testing, a step that goes beyond the current moratorium.
Kazakhstan knows all too well the horrors of nuclear testing. Some 450 nuclear tests were conducted at the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site more than 40 years ago, causing suffering to 1.5 million people. That is why on Aug. 29, 1991, I shut down the site.
Kazakhstan is proud to cooperate with the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Preparatory Commission to develop an international system of on-site inspections. We regret that some influential countries still refrain from signing and ratifying this treaty. This allows recognized nuclear states to continue to test nuclear weapons, as well as near-nuclear states to pursue missile and nuclear programs without consequences.
Kazakhstan is convinced that nuclear arms reductions will not lead to complacency and that U.S. ratification of this historic document will encourage other countries to follow its example.
A reasonable balance is needed between global efforts in fighting nuclear terrorism and legitimate, peaceful nuclear programs.
Kazakhstan is a major supplier of natural uranium. We are a firm proponent of the principle of equal access of all countries to the peaceful atom. That is why we support the idea of an international nuclear fuel bank under the auspices of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Kazakhstan, having voluntarily renounced the world's fourth largest nuclear arsenal, has been and will continue to be a reliable partner for the international community in issues of nonproliferation, disarmament and the peaceful use of atomic energy. I can state categorically that Kazakhstan will never cross the line separating a peaceful nuclear program from a military one.
The time has come to seriously consider regional nuclear weapons free zones in Latin America, the South Pacific, Southeast Asia and Africa, and Central Asia. A nuclear weapons free world is an ambitious goal that cannot be reached quickly. It will be a gradual process and would depend largely on how the emerging international order takes shape. A multipolar world in which the security interests of all states are respected is a necessary precondition. Only then will small and medium-size countries stop viewing nuclear weapons as the most effective security guarantee and one to which they must aspire.
Seventy years ago, Winston Churchill famously said, "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few." Fortunately, the world today is not an arena of nuclear conflicts. Yet it is a place of serious conflicting interests. The solution is in the hands of a few heads of state and governments, each of whom carries a share of responsibility for ensuring that the split atom does not divide and destroy us all.
Nursultan Nazarbayev is President of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
