| Nuclear Test Ban: Converting Political Visions to Reality 2009 Edition Contributor(s): Dahlman, Ola (Author), Mykkeltveit, S. (Author), Haak, Hein (Author) |
|
 |
ISBN: 1402068832 ISBN-13: 9781402068836 Publisher: Springer OUR PRICE: $94.99 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: February 2009 Annotation: The book gives a broad presentation in laymen??'s language of the creation and the implementation of the treaty prohibiting nuclear test explosions (Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty: CTBT), one of the key guardians against nuclear proliferation. The book gives a unique insight into the challenging international work to establish a complex technical system of global reach in a political environment, provided by those who guided this work for more than 25 years. The book reviews the extensive nuclear testing that has taken place and efforts and arguments to create a test ban. It describes the unprecedented effort at the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva by scientists from around the world to form a common understanding on how to verify a test ban treaty and to develop a prototype of a global verification system. This work was also a significant confidence building activity at the height of the cold war. The book gives a brief analysis of the political negotiations and of the Treaty itself. The main part of the book is devoted to efforts over 10 years by the Preparatory Commission for the CTBTO to implement the treaty and its verification system, the most comprehensive ever created with a global system that connects the world with more than 300 monitoring stations and an intrusive on-site inspection regime. The first and most promising testing results are also presented. An essential element of the book is assessments of experiences obtained over the years of a political, managerial and technical nature. Such lessons learned can benefit the negotiations of future international treaties where verification is crucial in the areas of it arms control, disarmament or environment. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Political Science | International Relations - Arms Control - Science | Earth Sciences - Geology - Science | Physics - Geophysics |
| Dewey: 327.174 |
| LCCN: 2008937915 |
| Physical Information: 0.7" H x 6.4" W x 9.3" (1.35 lbs) 250 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Nuclear tests have caused public concern ever since the first such test was conducted, more than six decades ago. During the Cold War, however, con- tions were not conducive to discussing a complete ban on nuclear testing. It was not until 1993 that negotiations on such a treaty finally got under way. From then on, things moved relatively quickly: in 1996, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). To date, the Treaty has been signed by 178 states and ratified by 144, though it has yet to enter into force, as nine out of 44 ''Annex 2 states'', whose ratification is mandatory, have not heeded the call. Nevertheless, the CTBT verification system is already provisionally operational and has proven its effectiveness. We commend the CTBT organisation in Vienna for its successful efforts to build a verification network. This book is an excellent overview of the evolution of the CTBT and its verification regime. The authors are eminent scholars from the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden who have been intimately involved with the CTBT and its verification agency, the CTBTO Preparatory Commission, from their inc- tion to the present day. They have written a thorough and engaging narrative of the long road that led to the CTBT. Their story will appeal to both the layman and the expert and provide useful lessons for future negotiations on disarmament issues. |
