ABSTRACT
This chapter suggests that the transition to a nuclear-weapon-free world (NWFW) should be recognized as being already in progress and indeed partly achieved, and that this trend, away from any conception of nuclear weapons as usable instruments, should be energetically pursued and reinforced. The eventual establishment of a NWFW will only be possible when reliance on ‘nuclear deterrence’ is replaced by the recognition that nuclear weapons have no use whatsoever. This transition will be easier if it is not blurred by the maintenance of a limited nuclear-weapon capability, hypothetically assigned, just for deterrence purposes, to the United Nations. Concentration on the time factor is also helpful in order to speculate about the route to be followed to reach a NWFW. Of course, the traditional definition in terms of numbers of nuclear weapons points to numerical reductions, all the way down to zero; certainly a most important goal.
