Nuclear weapons no longer play the central role they once did in the national security strategies of the nuclear weapon states because they are of decreasing utility in dealing with today's security problems and uncertainties. The Gulf War showed how new technology has given weaponry an accuracy that substitutes precision for brute explosive force, and with far less risk to civilians than from nuclear weapons. But we cannot expect the current favourable global climate to last indefinitely. New tensions could break out. The approach of the nuclear powers could change.
Nuclear proliferation threatens to become more immediate and more serious.
For this reason, the international community has a heavy responsibility to begin to take action now to address the issue of eliminating nuclear weapons rather than let familiar patterns drift forward into the future. The spontaneous popular and international outcry triggered by France's renewed nuclear testing and China's continued testing indicates the strength of international opinion in favour of further concrete action on nuclear disarmament. As with the long negotiations in the Conference on Disarmament on a chemical weapons convention, ultimate success may be decades away - but it may also be achievable within a shorter time. Radical changes have taken place in the world in recent years. This is the role of the Canberra Commission.