War → Nuclear War → Nuclear Treaties
Are we limiting the spread of nuclear weapons?
JF Kennedy signs the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty in July 1963
Source: history.com. See: https://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/john-f-kennedy#&pid=signing-the-nuclear-test-ban-treaty
List of Principal Treaties
| Treaty | Signed | Entry into force | Countries | Objective |
| Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty | 5 August 1963 | 10 October 1963 | 126 countries | Ban all nuclear weapons tests, except those underground |
| Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) | 1 July 1968 | 5 March 1970 | 191 countries | Prevent nuclear proliferation Promote nuclear disarmament Promote peaceful uses of nuclear energy |
| Threshold Test Ban Treaty | 3 July 1974 | 11 December 1990 | US & USSR | Ban tests greater than 150 Kt |
| Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) | 10 September 1996 | Not in Force | 176 countries | Ban all nuclear weapons tests |
| Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT I & II) | 26 May 1972, 18 June 1979 | US & USSR | Limit the number of strategic ballistic missile launchers | |
| Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START I) | 31 July 1991 | 5 December 1994 | US & USSR | Limit the number of deployed nuclear warheads to 6.000 and ICBMs to 1,600 |
| New START | 8 April 2010 | 5 February 2011 | US and Russia | Limit the number of deployed strategic nuclear warheads to 1,550 bombers to 700 and missile tubes to 800 |
| Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) | 20 September 2017 | 22 January 2021 | 68 countries | Comprehensively ban all nuclear weapons |
For a full list of Treaties See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_weapons_of_mass_destruction_treaties
There have been many attempts to control the use and build-up of nuclear weapons. Perhaps the most successful have been the Partial and Comprehensive
Nuclear Test Ban Treaties. As of 1996 most nuclear testing has been altered, The Ban, however is not universally accepted. Of the nuclear powers,
France and the UK have both signed and ratified the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). Russia, China, Israel and the USA have signed but not ratified,
while India, Pakistan and North Korea have neither signed nor ratified. It is likely that these last three countries may continue testing at some point
in the future and indeed
North Korea has already done so.
The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which prohibits the spread of nuclear weapons while promting
the peaceful use of nuclear power, has also been very successful. As of 2015, 190 states are recognised as parties to the treaty, including
the US, Russia, China, France and the UK. However, India, Israel, and
Pakistan have never signed the treaty, while North Korea was a party to the treaty but announced its withdrawal on 10 January 2003.
Strategic arms limitation/reduction talks between the US and USSR/Russia (SALT & START Treaties) have also substantially reduced the numer of nuclear warheads
aimed at each other (see graphic below), but in my opinion, even at the current reduced levels, each country still has the capacity to easily destroy the other!
How US and Russian nuclear arsenals have evolved
Source: The Institute for Peace and Diplomacy. See: https://peacediplomacy.org/2020/10/23/rethinking-nuclear-arms-control-for-a-multipolar-world/
Finally we have the treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which came into force 22 January 2021, and which is, in itself, is a worthy ideal but one that is unlikely to be adopted by any of the main nuclear powers. In fact, only South Africa, has ever returned from the brink, so to speak, by ending its nuclear weapons development programme and dissmantling its stockpile of nuclear weapons.
Treaty on the Prohiition of Nuclear Weapons
Source: Wikipedia. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_on_the_Prohibition_of_Nuclear_Weapons
Green - state parties, yellow - states that have signed