Topic: Recommendations for the 2015 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review
Country: France
Delegate Name: River Wahl
School: Forest Hills Central High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All France position papers GLIMUN 2014 committees
The issue of nuclear warfare is not a light one. With more and more countries acquiring nuclear weapons today, they are not just concentrated in the superpowers of yesteryear’s cold war, they are in the arsenals of most major countries today. These devices are extremely dangerous and destructive, and while hard to obtain by terrorist organizations or unstable governments, can just “disappear” like hundreds of suitcase sized nuclear weapons did in Russia a few years ago. Weapons like these must be accounted for, and the nature of these weapons sparks much negotiation on the control of nuclear weapons and who gets to use them.
Every five years there is a general assembly regarding the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty, a treaty which recognizes five countries, The U.S, France, Great Britain, Russia, and China as the Nuclear powers. These are the five countries that have permanent seats at the UN.
France has had many reductions to it's nuclear stockpile in the past and has significantly reduced it's own nuclear weapons. Further nuclear disarmament is now a hotly debated topic in france, with the majority against nuclear disarmament. In fact, a census showed that 60% of the french people did not think reducing the number of french nuclear weapons would result in a safer and stronger France. The French are not so keen on reducing their nuclear arsenal, then. In addition, a large portion of France’s energy comes from nuclear power, which further decreases the popularity of nuclear disarmament due to the fact that it could potentially harm France’s energy grid. France does not want to reduce it’s own nuclear arsenal significantly, but are not completely against nuclear disarmament, due to pressure from the other nuclear powers. France has reduced it’s nuclear stockpile in the past, most recently by one third in 2008 when president Nicolas Sarkozy announced a cut of the nation’s air and naval strategic weapons. France now claims that it’s nuclear arsenal is at “strict sufficiency” meaning that it’s at the lowest level for strategic security. Despite pressure from the U.S, France will likely refrain from reducing its nuclear stockpile in the future.
