Hope Becomes Law: The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in the Asia-Pacific Region

The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) entered into force on January 2021, but has a long way to go towards institutionalisation and its intended impact on the dominant presumption of the legitimacy of nuclear weapons. Dialogue on the treaty in the Asia-Pacific region faces a suite...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Richard Tanter
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2021-03-01
Series:Journal for Peace and Nuclear Disarmament
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/25751654.2021.1908736
_version_ 1831653652640563200
author Richard Tanter
author_facet Richard Tanter
author_sort Richard Tanter
collection DOAJ
description The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) entered into force on January 2021, but has a long way to go towards institutionalisation and its intended impact on the dominant presumption of the legitimacy of nuclear weapons. Dialogue on the treaty in the Asia-Pacific region faces a suite of issues regarding movement of the treaty towards institutionalisation as a regime. The effectiveness of regional dialogues will be affected by the following: the ability of the proponents of the TPNW to overcome the restrictions of the partialism of existing international law on nuclear weapons; decisions regarding proposals of basing dialogue about the TPNW on a claimed primacy of the Non-Proliferation Treaty; debates about the path forward: stigmatisation vs. delegitimating nuclear weapons; the critical counterfactual: Can we imagine a Threshold Nuclear Disarming State? debates on Nuclear Supporting States and Extended Nuclear Deterrence; obstacles to treaty compliance posed by globally distributed systems of nuclear command, control, and communication; a universal human interest in having in place by the time a Threshold Nuclear Disarming State appears a comprehensive verification regime which will be “fit for purpose” in the circumstances that will prevail at that point; the importance of the inclusion of Pacific island states in Asia-Pacific dialogue to enhance understanding of nuclear testing impacts; and seeing the current global pandemic as a stress test indicating the importance of eliminating nuclear weapons before the full impact of climate disruption reshapes global patterns of conflict.
first_indexed 2024-12-19T16:12:10Z
format Article
id doaj.art-29f135d2789547d6ba3f23099737b1c0
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2575-1654
language English
last_indexed 2024-12-19T16:12:10Z
publishDate 2021-03-01
publisher Taylor & Francis Group
record_format Article
series Journal for Peace and Nuclear Disarmament
spelling doaj.art-29f135d2789547d6ba3f23099737b1c02022-12-21T20:14:43ZengTaylor & Francis GroupJournal for Peace and Nuclear Disarmament2575-16542021-03-014S123427510.1080/25751654.2021.19087361908736Hope Becomes Law: The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in the Asia-Pacific RegionRichard Tanter0School of Political and Social Sciences, University of MelbourneThe Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) entered into force on January 2021, but has a long way to go towards institutionalisation and its intended impact on the dominant presumption of the legitimacy of nuclear weapons. Dialogue on the treaty in the Asia-Pacific region faces a suite of issues regarding movement of the treaty towards institutionalisation as a regime. The effectiveness of regional dialogues will be affected by the following: the ability of the proponents of the TPNW to overcome the restrictions of the partialism of existing international law on nuclear weapons; decisions regarding proposals of basing dialogue about the TPNW on a claimed primacy of the Non-Proliferation Treaty; debates about the path forward: stigmatisation vs. delegitimating nuclear weapons; the critical counterfactual: Can we imagine a Threshold Nuclear Disarming State? debates on Nuclear Supporting States and Extended Nuclear Deterrence; obstacles to treaty compliance posed by globally distributed systems of nuclear command, control, and communication; a universal human interest in having in place by the time a Threshold Nuclear Disarming State appears a comprehensive verification regime which will be “fit for purpose” in the circumstances that will prevail at that point; the importance of the inclusion of Pacific island states in Asia-Pacific dialogue to enhance understanding of nuclear testing impacts; and seeing the current global pandemic as a stress test indicating the importance of eliminating nuclear weapons before the full impact of climate disruption reshapes global patterns of conflict.http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/25751654.2021.1908736treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weaponsasia-pacific regionextended nuclear deterrencenuclear commandcontrolcommunicationdelegitimating nuclear weaponsglobal pandemic
spellingShingle Richard Tanter
Hope Becomes Law: The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in the Asia-Pacific Region
Journal for Peace and Nuclear Disarmament
treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons
asia-pacific region
extended nuclear deterrence
nuclear command
control
communication
delegitimating nuclear weapons
global pandemic
title Hope Becomes Law: The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in the Asia-Pacific Region
title_full Hope Becomes Law: The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in the Asia-Pacific Region
title_fullStr Hope Becomes Law: The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in the Asia-Pacific Region
title_full_unstemmed Hope Becomes Law: The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in the Asia-Pacific Region
title_short Hope Becomes Law: The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in the Asia-Pacific Region
title_sort hope becomes law the treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons in the asia pacific region
topic treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons
asia-pacific region
extended nuclear deterrence
nuclear command
control
communication
delegitimating nuclear weapons
global pandemic
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/25751654.2021.1908736
work_keys_str_mv AT richardtanter hopebecomeslawthetreatyontheprohibitionofnuclearweaponsintheasiapacificregion