ABSTRACT
This chapter assesses the divergence in the nuclear weapons debate and addresses the profound shift the Humanitarian Initiative and the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) represent. It discusses the impact on the nuclear weapons discourse that is already discernible from these initiatives. While nuclear weapons and nuclear disarmament have always been very contested issues, the divide in the international community on these issues has deepened since 2011 over the Humanitarian Initiative and in 2017, over the TPNW. Firstly, there is division over the way the nuclear weapons issue is addressed in multilateral fora. This is especially felt in the structures of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty-based nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regime which are perceived by those on the one side of the divide as hierarchical and undemocratic. Secondly, there is division over the rationale for nuclear disarmament. Thirdly, there is a fundamental divergence of perspectives on the security value of nuclear weapons and the practice of nuclear deterrence.
