FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Statement on the 45th Anniversary of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
Press Statement
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
March 5, 2015
All countries share responsibility to confront nuclear proliferation. All countries benefit if nuclear weapons do not spread to additional countries. All countries also profit when there is smart, continuous action in the direction of nuclear disarmament. And all countries gain from cooperation on the peaceful uses of nuclear energy.
That is why the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) has served the international community well for the past 45 years.
Simply put, it is the bedrock foundation for nuclear nonproliferation, disarmament, and the peaceful use of nuclear energy. They include the areas of human health, food and agriculture, water resource management, and the environment.
There are many reasons for the success of the NPT, which entered into force on March 5, 1970.
The international consensus against the spread of nuclear weapons, embodied in the spirit and text of the Treaty, is strong and continues to be upheld. Overwhelming numbers of states have refrained from pursuing nuclear weapons and accept International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards as the standard for verification and peaceful nuclear trade. Several states that abandoned nuclear weapons efforts might have come to a different conclusion in the absence of a robust and widely supported NPT.
Today, as we mark this anniversary, we especially celebrate that more states are party to the NPT than to any other arms control or nonproliferation agreement. But there is more work to do, and we must recommit ourselves to this task.
NPT Parties share a responsibility to reinforce the global nuclear nonproliferation regime, in particular to overcome the challenges posed by a few countries that have violated their international nonproliferation obligations. This should be a concern of all states, as it is the future integrity of the nonproliferation regime that is at stake.
Our common security would be profoundly affected if additional countries crossed the nuclear threshold.
That is why President Obama and I have committed so much time and attention to seeking an agreement that will ensure Iran’s nuclear program is peaceful, and that it will formally commit to it in perpetuity as a signatory to the NPT, and through a science-based, verifiable agreement with the P5+1 member nations and their partners.
We are also working with the international community to achieve the DPRK's complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization, and its return to the NPT and IAEA safeguards.
The United States is fully committed to continuing to fulfill its own Treaty obligations, as well as to strengthening the global nuclear nonproliferation regime.
Under the New START Treaty, we are reducing our deployed nuclear weapons to levels not seen since the 1950s, and we are prepared to negotiate further reductions. Through bilateral agreements and through the IAEA, we also continue to advance peaceful nuclear cooperation with other NPT Parties. We also are proud of our record as the leading contributor of funds to assist such global development.
The Ninth Review Conference of the NPT will open in New York on April 27. The United States has been working diligently to implement the items in the Action Plan adopted at the 2010 Review Conference, and we seek to strengthen that Plan.
We look forward to working with all NPT Parties to achieve a constructive outcome of the conference.
Showing posts with label DISARMAMENT. Show all posts
Showing posts with label DISARMAMENT. Show all posts
Thursday, March 5, 2015
Thursday, October 31, 2013
U.S. OFFICIAL'S REMARKS ON TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION IN CONTEXT OF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY
FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Sixty-Eighth UNGA First Committee Thematic Discussion on Other Disarmament Measures and International Security
Remarks
Michele G. Markoff, Delegation of the United States
Washington, DC
October 30, 2013
Mr. Chairman,
My remarks today will address United States views relating to developments in the field of information and telecommunications in the context of international security.
This June, the UN Group of Governmental Experts (GGE) on “Developments in the Field of Information and Telecommunications in the Context of International Security” achieved an historic consensus. In the GGE’s report, the United States sees reflected a growing global consensus on core ideas, namely that the international community seeks a path towards a peaceful and stable environment that allows all states to take advantage of the positive benefits of cyberspace. Further, the international community seeks to create incentives for cooperation on shared threats and to avoid conflict, and to create disincentives for states to disrupt one another’s networks or infrastructure. The United States has long been a leader and strong proponent of this effort. We believe, and the GGE report affirmed, that to be successful, this effort must be based on a foundation of international law and practical confidence building measures (CBMs) that, taken together, give us the essential tools with which to build peaceful intergovernmental relations in cyberspace.
Mr. Chairman,
As a participant in the GGE, the United States sought to enhance common understanding on cyber issues of critical national and international significance, particularly: that there is a need to promote international stability, transparency, and confidence in cyberspace; that existing international law should guide state behavior with regard to the use of cyberspace; that practical CBMs are needed to build transparency and confidence; that cooperation with the private sector and civil society is essential; and that the international community should help build the cybersecurity capacity of less-developed states to help them participate in this process. We believe that the Experts made a substantial contribution on all of these issues.
From the United States perspective, the most significant achievement in this consensus was the Group’s affirmation that international law is applicable and essential to maintaining peace and stability in cyberspace. That affirmation was coupled with consensus that states must meet their international obligations regarding internationally wrongful acts attributable to them; states must not use proxies to commit internationally wrongful acts; and states should seek to ensure that their territories are not used by non-state actors for unlawful use of information and communication technologies (ICTs). The experts also affirmed that state efforts to address the security of ICTs must go hand-in-hand with respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international instruments.
Together with the application of these rules, the United States believes that practical cooperative CBMs are needed to enhance predictability and reduce the prospect that misattribution or misperception might lead mistakenly to conflict. In order to develop a stable international framework for a technology which cannot be seen or counted, and where state capabilities cannot be easily assessed, states need to develop some confidence that behavior by states is predictable and understandable. The GGE agreed that practical transparency and CBMs, such as high-level communication and timely information sharing, can enhance trust and assurance among states and help reduce the risk of conflict by increasing predictability and reducing misperception. The Group agreed on the vital importance of capacity-building to enhance global cooperation in securing cyberspace. The Group reaffirmed the importance of an open and accessible cyberspace, as it enables economic and social development. And, the Group agreed that the combination of all these efforts support a more secure cyberspace.
These measures will help make conflict in cyberspace less likely. They can also play important roles should conflict occur. The application of international law to actions in cyberspace includes rules governing the use of force by states and the law of armed conflict. These rules regulate the use of ICTs in armed conflicts of all kinds, whether or not the conflicts began in cyberspace. The application of these rules in cyberspace is fully consistent with the desire of all states for peace and stability in cyberspace. Just as we are all parties to the UN Charter which seeks to prevent war of all kinds, we also all subscribe to the Geneva Conventions, and recognize the central role they play in minimizing civilian suffering when armed conflict occurs.
The United States was pleased to join consensus to affirm the applicability of international law to cyberspace. With that clear affirmation, this consensus sends a strong signal: States must act in cyberspace under the established international rules and principles that have guided their actions for decades – in peacetime and during conflict.
Mr. Chairman,
The United States looks forward to future dialogue on these issues with the international community. It is our expectation that future GGEs on the subject will use the results of this report as the foundation for discussion on how international law applies in cyberspace, how the international community can work with developing states to improve their own capacity, and what specific practical measures can be undertaken to achieve these goals.
States must unite in the common goal of preserving and enhancing the benefits of information technologies by assuring their security and integrity, while also maintaining an environment that promotes efficiency, innovation, economic prosperity, free trade, and respect for human rights.
To this end, let me reiterate the United States unwavering commitment to an Internet governance model that is people-centered, bottom-up, multi-stakeholder, and transparent. To build global knowledge societies, we must work to promote the free exchange of information and ideas among people. At the same time, we must resist efforts to erect new barriers and restrict the dynamic potential of the free flow of information.
The United States favors international engagement to develop a consensus on appropriate state behavior in cyberspace, based on existing principles of international law, and we cannot support other approaches that would only serve to legitimize repressive state practices.
In closing, Mr. Chairman, I would like to emphasize that our delegation looks forward to collaborating successfully with other delegations on these important issues, as well as on the remaining work of this session.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Sixty-Eighth UNGA First Committee Thematic Discussion on Other Disarmament Measures and International Security
Remarks
Michele G. Markoff, Delegation of the United States
Washington, DC
October 30, 2013
Mr. Chairman,
My remarks today will address United States views relating to developments in the field of information and telecommunications in the context of international security.
This June, the UN Group of Governmental Experts (GGE) on “Developments in the Field of Information and Telecommunications in the Context of International Security” achieved an historic consensus. In the GGE’s report, the United States sees reflected a growing global consensus on core ideas, namely that the international community seeks a path towards a peaceful and stable environment that allows all states to take advantage of the positive benefits of cyberspace. Further, the international community seeks to create incentives for cooperation on shared threats and to avoid conflict, and to create disincentives for states to disrupt one another’s networks or infrastructure. The United States has long been a leader and strong proponent of this effort. We believe, and the GGE report affirmed, that to be successful, this effort must be based on a foundation of international law and practical confidence building measures (CBMs) that, taken together, give us the essential tools with which to build peaceful intergovernmental relations in cyberspace.
Mr. Chairman,
As a participant in the GGE, the United States sought to enhance common understanding on cyber issues of critical national and international significance, particularly: that there is a need to promote international stability, transparency, and confidence in cyberspace; that existing international law should guide state behavior with regard to the use of cyberspace; that practical CBMs are needed to build transparency and confidence; that cooperation with the private sector and civil society is essential; and that the international community should help build the cybersecurity capacity of less-developed states to help them participate in this process. We believe that the Experts made a substantial contribution on all of these issues.
From the United States perspective, the most significant achievement in this consensus was the Group’s affirmation that international law is applicable and essential to maintaining peace and stability in cyberspace. That affirmation was coupled with consensus that states must meet their international obligations regarding internationally wrongful acts attributable to them; states must not use proxies to commit internationally wrongful acts; and states should seek to ensure that their territories are not used by non-state actors for unlawful use of information and communication technologies (ICTs). The experts also affirmed that state efforts to address the security of ICTs must go hand-in-hand with respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international instruments.
Together with the application of these rules, the United States believes that practical cooperative CBMs are needed to enhance predictability and reduce the prospect that misattribution or misperception might lead mistakenly to conflict. In order to develop a stable international framework for a technology which cannot be seen or counted, and where state capabilities cannot be easily assessed, states need to develop some confidence that behavior by states is predictable and understandable. The GGE agreed that practical transparency and CBMs, such as high-level communication and timely information sharing, can enhance trust and assurance among states and help reduce the risk of conflict by increasing predictability and reducing misperception. The Group agreed on the vital importance of capacity-building to enhance global cooperation in securing cyberspace. The Group reaffirmed the importance of an open and accessible cyberspace, as it enables economic and social development. And, the Group agreed that the combination of all these efforts support a more secure cyberspace.
These measures will help make conflict in cyberspace less likely. They can also play important roles should conflict occur. The application of international law to actions in cyberspace includes rules governing the use of force by states and the law of armed conflict. These rules regulate the use of ICTs in armed conflicts of all kinds, whether or not the conflicts began in cyberspace. The application of these rules in cyberspace is fully consistent with the desire of all states for peace and stability in cyberspace. Just as we are all parties to the UN Charter which seeks to prevent war of all kinds, we also all subscribe to the Geneva Conventions, and recognize the central role they play in minimizing civilian suffering when armed conflict occurs.
The United States was pleased to join consensus to affirm the applicability of international law to cyberspace. With that clear affirmation, this consensus sends a strong signal: States must act in cyberspace under the established international rules and principles that have guided their actions for decades – in peacetime and during conflict.
Mr. Chairman,
The United States looks forward to future dialogue on these issues with the international community. It is our expectation that future GGEs on the subject will use the results of this report as the foundation for discussion on how international law applies in cyberspace, how the international community can work with developing states to improve their own capacity, and what specific practical measures can be undertaken to achieve these goals.
States must unite in the common goal of preserving and enhancing the benefits of information technologies by assuring their security and integrity, while also maintaining an environment that promotes efficiency, innovation, economic prosperity, free trade, and respect for human rights.
To this end, let me reiterate the United States unwavering commitment to an Internet governance model that is people-centered, bottom-up, multi-stakeholder, and transparent. To build global knowledge societies, we must work to promote the free exchange of information and ideas among people. At the same time, we must resist efforts to erect new barriers and restrict the dynamic potential of the free flow of information.
The United States favors international engagement to develop a consensus on appropriate state behavior in cyberspace, based on existing principles of international law, and we cannot support other approaches that would only serve to legitimize repressive state practices.
In closing, Mr. Chairman, I would like to emphasize that our delegation looks forward to collaborating successfully with other delegations on these important issues, as well as on the remaining work of this session.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)