Yet not one country that had nuclear weapons when the NPT was signed in 1968 has given them up. They preach but do not practice nuclear abstinence. They justify their own nuclear weapons in national security language, but deny such weapons to anyone else for reasons of global security. Confronted with a world that cannot be changed, reasonable people adapt and accommodate. The turning points of history and progress in human civilization have come from those who set out to change the world.
Nuclear weapons are the common enemy of mankind.
Like chemical and biological weapons of mass destruction, nuclear weapons too should be outlawed under an international regime that ensures strict compliance through effective and credible inspection, verification and control regimes. As the only victim of nuclear weapons, and as a bridge between Asia and the West, Japan is uniquely positioned to engage both potential proliferators and the recalcitrant disarmers. The Non-proliferation Treaty review conference in New York is in real need of creative and imaginative leadership. Ramesh Thakur is vice rector of the United Nations University. These are his personal views.