New approaches towards nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament on the eve of the 2010 NPT Review Conference

William Potter

July 2, 2009. “As always, it is a pleasure to return to Moscow and to speak to a meeting organized by the PIR Center. I am particularly pleased to do so at a moment in time when there appears to be new currents of thinking internationally about nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation. For too long, the international community appeared paralyzed on these subjects. It was almost as if they took seriously the saying attributed to the American comedian Woody Allen in which he allegedly observes: “Mankind is at a crossroads. One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness, the other to total extinction. Let us pray we have the wisdom to choose correctly.” Today, for the first time in nearly a decade, there are indications that it may be possible to move forward in reducing nuclear risks, containing and reversing nuclear weapons spread, and pursuing practical steps along the road to zero.”

New approaches towards nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament on the eve of the 2010 NPT Review Conference – full text