
Book by Geoffrey Darnton.
This book puts in your hands a summary of the key reasons why nuclear weapons have been illegal since the birth of the bomb.
NWIL3 was published in 2020. It contains the text of the TPNW, but at the time of publication, the TPNW had many signatures since adoption by UNGA in 2017, but the Treaty had not yet entered into force.
NWIL3 was published in August 2020. The 50th ratification of TPNW was lodged on 24th October 2020. Therefore, it entered into force 90 days later on 22nd January 2021. NWIL3 needed to be brought up to date, or a separate book issued. It is clear that TPNW, although a formidable achievement, should not be seem as the end of the process to rid the world of nuclear weapons. More remains to be done to take TPNW forward.
This book contains several radical suggestions for civil society and others to take forward the promises and hope of TPNW, including the point that individuals involved in decisions to develop, finance, acquire, or deploy nuclear weapons can be held accountable as individuals under international law. There is a need for a Nuclear Weapons Convention, and a Treaty that is available to individuals, not just nation states – a TPNWI. Work is needed for more states to become parties to TPNW.
While the book was in development, the UK government announced its intention to increase its number of nuclear warheads. There is a case study of the UK showing how profound are the UK’s breaches of international law concerning nuclear weapons.
After TPNW was adopted, various nuclear weapons and umbrella states made various assertions that TPNW could undermine the NPT. The book looks at these assertions and finds no credible explanation put forward by the NWS: on the contrary, TPNW achieves more than was achieved under the NPT by the NWS sitting on their hands for more than half a century breaching their legal obligations. The TPNW is the proliferation of Nuclear Weapon Free Zones – NOT the proliferation of Nuclear Weapons!
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