Milestones on the Road to Nuclear Disarmament

To the participants of the NPT Review Conference:

Forty years after the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty entered into
force, we have come together to answer a simple question with
consequences for us all: as individual nations and as an international
community, will we uphold the rights and responsibilities of all nations
in order to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons?

For four decades, the NPT has been the cornerstone of our collective
efforts to prevent the proliferation of these weapons.  But today, this
regime is under increasing pressure.  A year ago in Prague, I therefore
made it a priority of the United States to strengthen each of the
treaty’s key pillars as we work to stop the spread of nuclear weapons,
and to pursue the peace and security of a world without them.

Over the coming weeks, we will see whether nations with nuclear
weapons will fulfill their NPT obligations to move toward nuclear
disarmament.  Building on our new START Treaty with Russia and our
Nuclear Posture Review, which reaffirms the central importance of the
NPT, the United States is meeting its responsibilities and setting the
stage for further cuts.

We will see whether nations without nuclear weapons will fulfill
their obligation to forsake them.  History shows that nations that
pursue this path find greater security and opportunity as an integrated
member of the international community.  Nations that ignore their
obligations find themselves less secure, less prosperous and more
isolated.  That is the choice nations must make.

Finally, we will work to ensure that nations that abide by their
obligations can access peaceful nuclear energy.  The United States is
committed to this goal and will pursue a new framework for civil nuclear
cooperation that permits nations that uphold their responsibilities to
enjoy the peaceful uses of the atom.

Today, the eyes of the world are upon us.  Over the coming weeks,
each of our nations will have the opportunity to show where we stand. 
Will we meet our responsibilities or shirk them?  Will we ensure the
rights of nations or undermine them?  In short, do we seek a 21st
century of more nuclear weapons or a world without them?

These are the questions we must answer, the challenges we must meet. 
At this conference and beyond, let us come together, in partnership, to
pursue the peace and security that our people deserve. 

Sincerely,
President Barack Obama

To read this speech and others by President Obama and members of
the administration, click
here.

To read
President Obama's
speech on April 5, 2009 in Prague, Czech Republic, click
here.

~Paul
Deaton is a native Iowan living in rural Johnson County and weekend
editor of Blog for Iowa. He is also a member of Iowa Physicians for
Social Responsibility and Veterans for Peace. E-mail Paul
Deaton