ABSTRACT
Chapter 4 investigates the evolution of multilateral nuclear disarmament diplomacy from 2001 to 2021. Covering the derailment of the 13 steps for disarmament adopted by the 2000 NPT review conference, the chapter discusses proliferation challenges, the Obama administration's ‘Prague agenda’, and renewed investments in nuclear weapons by the major powers. The chapter further details how, after the 2010 NPT review conference, a coalition of states and international organisations launched a ‘humanitarian initiative’ for nuclear disarmament. Within five years, the initiative had led to the creation of several new diplomatic forums and the adoption of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Representatives of non-nuclear-weapon states had for years argued that the legal hierarchy codified by the NPT could only be accepted for a limited period – that period ended in 2017.
