The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty: An Insider's Perspective [Hardcover]

Keith A. Hansen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2006 | ISBN-10: 0804753032 | ISBN-13: 978-0804753036 | Edition: 1

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.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This is a very comprehensive and well-written and, at the same time, quite compact survey of what everyone needs to know about the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treat and, more broadly, about the entire effort to hold back the spread of nuclear weapons."—Political Science Quarterly

“I know of no other book that brings so authoritatively to the reader the issues addressed during the process of negotiating the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. This is a very valuable contribution to a greater understanding of the CTBT and the overall nuclear arms control picture.”—Sidney Drell, Stanford University

“This book presents the fascinating story of the multilateral negotiations that produced the treaty banning nuclear weapon tests, as told by a participant in those negotiations. This is a treaty that the U.S. Senate has so far failed to approve, and that the administration of President George W. Bush now opposes—yet most of the rest of the world supports it. Will it ever go into effect?”—George Bunn, Stanford University

“...the book is a fascinating read both for the general reader and the specialist. It will be an invaluable resource for anyone who wants to delve further into the lessons learned from one of the most complex multilateral negotiations undertaken in the latter half of the twentieth century.”—Arms Control Today

There may be no better succinct reader available on the nuclear test ban treaty negotiations. This one captures not only the imagination, but also promotes a strong sense of the frenzied nature of global attempts to secure a future freed from the constant threat of a planetary nuclear winter.”—American Society of International Law

From the Publisher

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.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Stanford Law and Politics; 1 edition (March 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0804753032
• ISBN-13: 978-0804753036
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,527,168 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How the Treaty was Negeotiated and Not Ratified, April 24, 2006

By 

John Matlock "Gunny" (Winnemucca, NV) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty: An Insider's Perspective (Hardcover)

The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) has had a long and interesting history. It was painstakingly negeotiated over a period of many years and signed ten years ago. Then a whole series of countries: China, India, Israel, Pakistan, North Korea and the United States refused to ratify it. At the same time, they announced that they would abide with the main provisions of the treaty.

It's also interesting that the treaty doesn't ban the bomb itself, it only bans the testing of nuclear devices. That's not exactly the same thing, but almost. If you built a bomb, you would never be certain that it wouldn't fizzle when you tried to use it for real, so you'd want to test it. Likewise the technology of bomb making advances and this too needs testing.

This book is a general overview of the treaty, how it was negeotiated, and what's been happening towards ratification. It also includes a copy of the treaty.

It's strange that a majority of the world's countries, a majority of the world's people want the treaty to be in place, but it appears now that there is little chance of it being passed. This is a very interesting book as it gives a good overview of how such treaties are negeotiated at a world wide level.