Topic: 2025 – No First Use Policies and Nuclear Disarmament
Country: Egypt
Delegate Name: Prisha Thakker
Since the first atomic bombs were dropped on Japan in 1945, nuclear weapons have remained one of the central threats to global peace and human survival. Their destructive power is indiscriminate, and even a limited nuclear exchange would produce human, environmental, and political consequences that would echo for generations. Within the United Nations, nuclear disarmament has long been a priority, yet progress remains slow and uneven. For the Arab Republic of Egypt, eliminating nuclear weapons is essential not only for global security but also for the stability of the Middle East, a region already strained by conflict and asymmetries in military capability.
One key issue before DISEC is the potential adoption of “No First Use” (NFU) policies by nuclear-armed states. Egypt recognizes that NFU can reduce tensions by clarifying nuclear doctrines and lowering the risk of miscalculation between rivals. If a state publicly commits to not using nuclear weapons unless first attacked with them, it becomes less likely that a crisis could escalate into a catastrophic nuclear exchange. However, Egypt also stresses that NFU alone is insufficient. A verbal pledge is meaningful only if paired with transparency, verification, and broader disarmament commitments. Without these, NFU risks becoming a symbolic gesture that allows nuclear-armed states to maintain their arsenals indefinitely.
Egypt’s position on nuclear disarmament is grounded in decades of consistent diplomacy. Egypt signed the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons NPT in 1968 and ratified it in 1981, viewing the treaty as an essential framework for preventing nuclear war. Yet Egypt has also been clear that the NPT’s credibility depends on the willingness of the five recognized nuclear weapons states to fulfill their Article VI obligations to negotiate toward complete nuclear disarmament. As long as these states continue to modernize their arsenals, the global non-proliferation regime risks losing legitimacy.
A major pillar of Egypt’s foreign policy has been the creation of a Middle East Nuclear-Weapon Free-Zone (MENWFZ). Since 1974, Egypt has introduced the annual UN General Assembly resolution calling for the zone, arguing that lasting Regional security cannot be achieved while nuclear weapons remain in the Middle East. Egypt played a decisive role in the 1995 NPT review and extension conference, where it secured a commitment by all parties to pursue a conference on establishing a MENWFZ. Although political barriers have slowed progress, Egypt continues to participate in UN-hosted meetings on the topic and remains the Region’s most persistent advocate for eliminating weapons of mass destruction.
Egypt’s record reflects its credibility: it possesses no nuclear weapons, maintains a peaceful nuclear program under IAEA oversight, and has expressed openness to enhanced safeguards if Global disarmament advances reciprocally. Egypt’s approach has consistently emphasized fairness. No State should be expected to accept permanent constraints while others maintain strategic privileges.
Egypt also acknowledges positive steps such as the treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons (TPNW) and bilateral agreements like New START, though it remains concerned that nuclear-armed states have not joined the TPNW and continue modernizing their arsenals. As a result, the risk of nuclear use, intentional or accidental, remains dangerously high.
For these reasons, Egypt supports a practical path forward: DISEC should promote a multilateral, legally binding NFU framework monitored by the UN or IAEA; advance phased, verifiable disarmament with increased transparency; and renew efforts to establish a Middle East Nuclear-weapon-Free Zone through a dedicated UN Special Envoy. Ultimately, Egypt believes that nuclear disarmament must be paired with broader conflict reduction efforts, and remains committed to working with all nations to pursue a world free from the threats of nuclear weapons.
Works Cited
https://cnpp.iaea.org/public/countries/EG/profile/highlights.
https://www.nti.org/education-center/treaties-and-regimes/treaty-between-the-united-states-of-america-and-the-russian-federation-on-measures-for-the-further-reduction-and-limitation-of-strategic-offensive-arms/.
https://docs.un.org/en/A/79/404.
https://disarmament.unoda.org/en/our-work/weapons-mass-destruction/nuclear-weapons/treaty-non-proliferation-nuclear-weapons.
https://disarmament.unoda.org/en/our-work/weapons-mass-destruction/nuclear-weapons/treaty-prohibition-nuclear-weapons.
