Central Asia now officially a Nuclear Weapon Free Zone

Central Asia Nuclear Weapon Free Zone

On December 11, the Central Asian Nuclear Weapon Free Zone officially entered into force following ratification by the Kazakhstan Senate. The other four countries in the zone – Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan - had already ratified the treaty.

The Central Asian zone joins other operational NWFZs covering the Antarctic, Outer Space, the Sea Bed, Latin America and the Caribbean, the South Pacific, and Southeast Asia. Momentum is also building for entry-into-force of a zone covering Africa, with only two more ratifications required from amongst the signatories.

The Central Asian NWFZ had taken a number of years to negotiate due to political difficulties arising from mixed military arrangements and security relationships with nuclear weapon States. Surrounded by Russian, Chinese, Pakistani, Indian, and Israeli nuclear weapons, and housing Russian and U.S. military bases, the new zone serves as a powerful example of successful negotiations to achieve a significant non-proliferation step.

The success in this region increases the confidence that other proposed NWFZs, for example in North East Asia, the Middle East, Central Europe and the Arctic, could also be successfully negotiated.

However, the success is tempered somewhat by the continued resistance by France, the UK and the United States to ratify protocols to the treaty honouring the zone and guaranteeing not to threaten or use nuclear weapons against the five States in the zone.

For more information see: Central Asian States Establish Nuclear-Weapon-Free-Zone Despite U.S. Opposition, by Scott Parish and William Potter