2 - The role of international law via NPT in promoting nuclear peaceful applications

Abstract

It is evident that nuclear weapons now pose a major threat to humanity, assets, and the environment where the chances of maintaining the current state of international security might suffer adverse consequences. There have been speculations that a nuclear war is impending. This has followed the rising tension between some countries in the world and the race to acquire arms and weapons that have catastrophic and destructive tendencies. Nuclear weapons have caused terrible loss and devastation in the targeted regions during World War II. Hiroshima and Nagasaki are tragic examples that will not be forgotten by humanity, and it will be a terrible experience if the nuclear states are forced to use their nuclear weapons. These are some of the salient reasons why the use of atom for peace and sustainable development need to be and encouraged instead of racing to use the atom and nuclear technology for the weapons of mass destruction. Arguably, not only has nuclear technology been associated with tragic incidences but it also plays a fundamental role in facilitating the invention of essential activities and sustainable development in various sectors of the economy, health, industry, and the environment. Therefore, the reasons and motives for addressing the issue of reducing the spread of nuclear weapons have become an international necessity to put an end to the proliferation of nuclear and mass destruction weapons in the light of the global changes of contemporary international law as well as the nonproliferation of nuclear weapons treaty that both suffer from gaps and weaknesses, which both lead to the continuation of international violations and the fragile peace that threaten the security of the world. The fragile peace will continue if the privileges and rights granted by some important international treaties are not revised as soon as possible. For example, the nonproliferation treaty grants and allows expressly to the nuclear countries to develop their nuclear proliferation either vertically or horizontally, and similarly article 4 of the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism expressly excludes the application of the convention to the use of nuclear devices during armed conflicts. As well as the importance of the ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty by the five nuclear countries. The increasing severity of this issue has been worsened by the frequent violations of the global security measures by prominent nuclear countries that have double standards stands and contributed to providing allied and friendly countries with nuclear technology for military use (such as Israel, India, and Pakistan) as well as they have rejected all resolutions on the establishment of a nuclear weapon-free zone in the Middle East. The unexpected political and nuclear conflicts between the United States and North Korea and Iran may change the features of the world map by pushing a small button called the nuclear button.