ABSTRACT
The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) presents the entire international community, including the nine nuclear-armed states, with a fait accompli: a legal framework intended to encourage progress toward the elimination of all nuclear weapons, to verify every step taken, to detect cheating and to celebrate advances towards peace and stability. As the parties define the operational modalities of the TPNW, the nuclear-armed states will reconsider whether they should continue to reject this treaty. The parties need to help the nuclear-armed states appreciate that all states have a vested interest in the success of the TPNW and that all bear enormous moral, ethical and legal obligations to avoid nuclear catastrophes.
