If the NPT were to collapse or erode, it would undoubtedly worsen the nuclear and broader international security and energy landscape by undermining the nonproliferation norm, disrupting the framework on which the peaceful cooperation on nuclear energy occurs, diminishing future prospects for further arms reductions and disarmament and weakening the security of all states alike, whether or not they possess nuclear weapons.
About the speaker
Joseph F. Pilat is a Program Manager in the Office of National Security and International Studies at the Los Alamos National Laboratory and a Global Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars where he co-directs the Nonproliferation Forum. He served as Representative of the Secretary of Defense to the Fourth Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), and as senior adviser to the US Delegation at the 1995 NPT Review and Extension Conference. Dr. Pilat also served as representative of the Secretary of Defense to the Open Skies negotiations. He has held positions in the Pentagon and the Congressional Research Service, and has taught at Cornell University, Georgetown University and the College of William and Mary. He is the co-editor of the Handbook of Nuclear Proliferation and Policy (Routledge, 2015) and the co-author of The Politics of Weapons Inspections (Stanford University Press, 2017).