FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 21, 2007
- NEWS RELEASE -
WASHINGTON, June 21--The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace released a report card today on the nuclear nonproliferation policies of key world powers—and the overall score is a D+.
“Since 2005, governments have devoted too little attention, leadership, and resources to taking the steps necessary to prevent the spread and use of nuclear weapons,” said George Perkovich, vice president for studies—Global Security and Development, at the Carnegie Endowment, announcing the release of Toward Universal Compliance: A 2007 Report Card. “The solutions to most proliferation problems are not hard to identify, what’s lacking is the determination by key leaders to learn and apply them.”
The study evaluated the nonproliferation progress of the United States, Russia, France, the United Kingdom, China, India, Pakistan, and Israel, as well as key non-nuclear states, from 2005 through mid-2007. The authors note that the actions of the United States strongly affected the poor results as it is the most powerful actor in the international system.
“By rejecting the give and take of diplomacy and the legitimacy of other people’s need for security—including the demand for greater equity in the international system—the United States lost power to achieve what it wants other than through brute force, whose limits became clear in Iraq,” concludes the report.
Yet the United States alone cannot implement the policies needed to achieve a better result—it needs the active cooperation of the international community. Responsibility for the dismal performance assessed in the report is therefore widely shared.
A 2007 Report Card is a special follow-up to Universal Compliance: A Strategy for Nuclear Security, a blueprint for rethinking the international nuclear nonproliferation regime by dealing with states and terrorists, nuclear weapons, and missile materials through a twenty step, priority action agenda.
The D+ grade is an average of grades assigned for each of six criteria laid out in the 2005 edition of Universal Compliance upon which the governments were evaluated. They are:
- Make nonproliferation irreversible—Grade: D
- Devalue the political and military currency of nuclear weapons—Grade: F
- Secure all nuclear materials—Grade: C-
- Stop the illegal transfers of nuclear technology, materials and know-how—Grade: C-
- Commit to conflict resolution—Grade: C+
- Persuade India, Israel, and Pakistan to accept the same nonproliferation obligations accepted by the weapon state signatories (to the NPT)—Grade: D-
The Report Card will be distributed publicly at the 2007 Carnegie International Nonproliferation Conference on June 25 and 26. The conference is the premier event in the nonproliferation field, attracting over 800 U.S. and foreign government officials, policy and technical experts, academics, and journalists from around the world.
Notes:
- To read Toward Universal Compliance: A 2007 Report Card, go to www.carnegieendowment.org/files/report_card.pdf
To read the full, updated Universal Compliance: A Strategy for Nuclear Security , go to www.carnegieendowment.org/files/univ_comp_rpt07_final1.pdf - Toward Universal Compliance: A 2007 Report Card was written by George Perkovich, with Jessica T. Mathews, Rose Gottemoeller, Deepti Choubey, and Sharon Squassoni. Universal Compliance: A Strategy for Nuclear Security was written by George Perkovich, Jessica T. Mathews, Joseph Cirincione, Rose Gottemoeller, and Jon Wolfsthal.
- To request an interview with authors, or for more information about the Carnegie International Nonproliferation Conference, please contact Trent Perrotto, Communications Manager, 202-939-2372, tperrotto@ceip.org
- George Perkovich is the vice president for studies—Global Security and Development at the Carnegie Endowment.
- Jessica T. Mathews is the president of the Carnegie Endowment.
- Rose Gottemoeller is the director of the Carnegie Moscow Center.
- Deepti Choubey is the deputy director of the Nonproliferation Program at the Carnegie Endowment.
- Sharon Squassoni is a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment.
- The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace is a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing cooperation between nations and promoting active international engagement by the United States. Founded in 1910, its work is nonpartisan and dedicated to achieving practical results. The Endowment has added operations in Beijing, Beirut, and Brussels to join its longstanding offices in Washington and Moscow as part of its transformation into the first global think tank.
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