Non-Proliferation Treaty weaponised to undermine the Global South

THE opening line of the United Nations Charter is ‘We the peoples of the United Nations, determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war ...’. Yet eighty years on, we once again face the terrifying prospect, not just of a global war, but of nuclear war.

- DR RENEVA FOURIE

The authority of the UN is increasingly undermined as founding members leave it cash-strapped and disregard multilateralism and international Jaw. As we remember the horrors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, bombed by the United States on 6 and 9 August 1945, we question whether the nuclear powers have learned anything.

The US attack on Japan was an act of savagery that resulted in over 200,000 lives lost and a ravaged environment. It had no military justification. By then, the Soviet Union had already struck a decisive blow against Nazi Germany, effectively ending the war. The bombings served merely to assert US dominance in an emerging Cold War.

As the US and its allies desperately try to strangle the emergence of a multipolar world, the same need for global dominance prevails. Military budgets are rising, and rhetoric is increasingly shifting from deterrence to aggression. US President Trump’s erratic nuclear threats set a dangerous precedent for impulsive brinkmanship.

Iran was even attacked despite clear evidence that its nuclear programme is humanitarian. The hypocrisy was glaring. The aggressor, Israel, known to possess nuclear weapons through its past collaboration with apartheid South Africa, launched an unprovoked strike and was not held to account. Instead of outrage, Israel received support from Western countries, particularly the US.

This casts doubt on the credibility of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. While nuclear-armed states enhance their arsenals freely, those without are forced to comply or face consequences.

Established initially to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons while encouraging the peaceful use of nuclear energy, the NPT has been undermined by the reluctance of nuclear states to disarm, deepening discontent, especially in the Global South.