Can the NPT Survive Amid Global Disorder?

Excerpt For more than 50 years, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) has stood between the world and nuclear chaos. At a moment of unprecedented strain on the global nuclear order, diplomats are meeting in New York to review the treaty’s three pillars – nonproliferation, disarmament, and peaceful uses of nuclear energy – and to seek agreement on forward-looking steps to strengthen the regime. Yet with regional conflicts raging, key arms control agreements lapsed, and nuclear-weapon states actively expanding and modernizing their arsenals, even modest progress seems unlikely. Andrea Stricker is deputy director of the Nonproliferation Program and a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington, D.C.-based, nonpartisan research institute focused on national security and foreign policy. Follow her on X @StrickerNonpro.