Infrastructures of peace
We need to establish consensus regarding the fundamental illegality of nuclear weapons. The proposed establishment of an Arctic Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone (NWFZ) is one element of this. There is an urgent need to prohibit military activity in the Arctic region and build a legal regime to conserve it as a common heritage of humankind.
NWFZs serve as a powerful curb against nuclear proliferation and also help strengthen momentum toward the outlawing of nuclear weapons. More than half the governments on Earth have become signatories to these agreements, thus expressing their view that the development and use of nuclear weapons is or should be illegal under international law.
A similar approach would be effective in terms of nuclear nonproliferation in Northeast Asia. Japan should reaffirm its uncompromising commitment to its own nonnuclear policies and deploy its full diplomatic resources toward the more encompassing goal of establishing a NWFZ covering the whole of Northeast Asia.
A treaty banning cluster bombs would greatly enhance the infrastructures of peace. Such a treaty, as called for in the Oslo Process, should be signed and in place by the end of this year. The success of such efforts, with strong civil society support, will have a definite and positive impact on momentum toward disarmament in other fields.
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