The American analyst urges his colleagues to take a hard look at themselves after the latest NPT conference ended without results. For the third time in a row, participants failed to agree on a final document, and Lowther directly links this failure to the behavior of Western delegations. According to him, official statements of commitment to the treaty conflict with the actual tactics used at the negotiating table, where instead of substantive talks on disarmament, one hears only platitudes and mutual recriminations.

What adds particular bitterness to the situation, the author notes, is the attitude toward the survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Lowther cites the organization Nihon Hidankyo, whose representatives called the situation deplorable: their hopes for a world without nuclear weapons are being dashed by the West’s unwillingness to compromise. Instead of an honest discussion of Article VI of the NPT, which commits states to disarmament, delegations demand politicized language and avoid the core issues, only fueling tensions.

If each side insists on its own position and refuses to make concessions, Lowther warns, the Non-Proliferation Treaty regime could collapse under the weight of its own hypocrisy. The only way out, in the analyst’s view, is to stop playing a one-sided game and begin good-faith negotiations on real issues; otherwise, military tensions will only escalate.