UN Approves Treaty To Ban Nuclear Weapons Despite Boycott By Nations Who Have Nuclear Weapons

The Atlantic: 122 Nations Approve 'Historic' Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapons

While the treaty faces many barriers to implementation, it signifies a profound international statement.

More than 120 nations adopted the first international treaty banning nuclear weapons on Friday at the United Nations headquarters in New York City. The initiative—led by Austria, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, and New Zealand—was approved by 122 votes, with only the Netherlands opposed, and Singapore abstaining. The nine countries generally recognized as possessing nuclear weapons—the U.S., Russia, Britain, China, France, India, Pakistan, North Korea, and Israel—were noticeably absent from the negotiations, as were most members of NATO.

Despite being a victim of atomic attacks in 1945, Japan also boycotted the meeting. Nevertheless, the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki informed Friday’s dialogue—and the conversation thereafter. “It’s been seven decades since the world knew the power of destruction of nuclear weapons,” the president of the UN conference, Elayne Whyte Gómez, told The Guardian. The agreement, she added, “is a very clear statement that the international community wants to move to a completely different security paradigm that does not include nuclear weapons.”

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More News On The UN Approving A Treaty To Ban Nuclear Weapons

UN conference adopts treaty banning nuclear weapons -- UN News Centre
Nuclear powers rebuked as 122 nations adopt U.N. ban -- Politico
Almost Two-Thirds of UN States Agree on Treaty to Ban Nukes -- The Wire/Reuters
UN Approves Treaty To Ban Nuclear Weapons Despite Boycott By Nuclear Powers -- RFE
US refuses to vote on UN-approved treaty banning nuclear weapons -- Washington Examiner
N-weapons ban pact hailed, but Japan slammed for lack of role -- Asahi Shimbun
France, US, UK slam new UN nuclear treaty -- RFI
UN: India skips, 122 countries adopt global treaty banning nuclear weapons -- The Asian Age
122 Countries Have Moved to Ban Nuclear Weapons. What Happens Next? -- National Geographic
A Treaty Is Reached to Ban Nuclear Arms. Now Comes the Hard Part. -- NYT
Did Nuclear Weapons Just Get Banned? -- Dave Majumdar, National Interest