The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty: An Insider’s Perspective

Since the mid-1950s, the international community has sought to ban all nuclear testing. In 1996, the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty emerged after three years of intense international negotiations. However, after nearly a decade, there is no sign that the treaty will ever enter into force.

Despite the general support for and adherence to a series of national moratoria on nuclear explosive testing, it is important to understand why the effort to achieve a permanent ban on nuclear testing has experienced such difficulties and continues to travel such a problematic road. The author of this book is neither a promoter nor a critic of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, but rather he provides a brief historical and analytical understanding of the events surrounding its negotiation and implementation. The author’s analysis, based on his personal involvement in the CTBT negotiations, provides one insider’s view of how the critical events unfolded and how they are likely to affect future nonproliferation initiatives.

Keith A. Hansen, Consulting Professor of International Relations at Stanford University, was involved in the CTBT negotiations and implementation activities for eight years as a member of the U.S. negotiating team.