Know What's Happening in Defense

The High Stakes of a Major UN Meeting on Nuclear Weapons

In this episode, Kelsey Davenport of the Arms Control Association explains the three pillars of the Nuclear Non‑Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and assesses its mixed record: it has largely prevented new nuclear states but is now under strain as nuclear‑armed powers expand arsenals and the New START treaty has lapsed. The upcoming NPT Review Conference is critical because past meetings failed to produce a consensus final document, and contentious issues loom, including disarmament dead‑lock, attacks on safeguarded nuclear facilities in Ukraine and Iran, and the risk of Iran pursuing withdrawal from the treaty. Davenport warns that growing geopolitical tensions—Russia’s war in Ukraine, U.S. strikes on Iranian sites, and China’s nuclear buildup—are eroding confidence in the treaty’s security guarantees. She also critiques the U.S. approach, suggesting that a confrontational stance could further jeopardize consensus and the treaty’s future.