The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty

In this essay, the author discusses the complex issue of nuclear disarmament. By way of introduction, she refers to the various efforts and Abstracts 165 agreements that culminated in the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), an agreement that has not yet come into effect, but that has already been signed by 176 States and ratified by 125. Some of  the most important international treaties that paved the way for the CTBT include the Partial Test Ban Treaty, the Treaty of Tlatelolco and the drawing up of the Final Document of the United Nations General Assembly’s first Special Session on Disarmament (1978). Carvalho underlines the main factors that contributed to the adoption of the CTBT, such as the work of the Ad Hoc Committee of the Conference on Disarmament and the important contribution Mexico has made to all these initiatives. According to the author, Mexico should view the successful conclusion of the CTBT as part and parcel of an effective nuclear disarmament process, with all the commitments this implies. Finally, she points out that although the CTBT does not prevent the manufacture of nuclear weapons or their development, it could act as a useful deterrent in the arms race. The author goes on to discuss the work of the conferences convened by the United Nations, at which the importance of the CTBT and the need to ratify it have been reaffirmed. She concludes by calling on all States who have not yet done so to sign and ratify the treaty.