ABSTRACT
Supporters of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) would welcome some engagement on the part of nuclear weapon and nuclear umbrella States, as they are well aware that the TPNW alone is no panacea for solving the nuclear weapons issue, but one of many necessary steps to achieve a world without nuclear weapons. In their view, the TPNW should facilitate, if not compel, the kind of engagement on the part of the nuclear weapon States that has hitherto been missing. A broad dialogue and engagement on a range of questions such as those would certainly be a difficult affair for all sides of the disarmament/deterrence divide, given the acrimonious history of the nuclear disarmament debate and the strongly held views on the nuclear weapons issue. They are, however, among the legitimate and pertinent questions derived from the arguments made in the context of the Humanitarian Initiative and the TPNW.
