Towards a Nuclear Weapons Free World? New Zealand and the Quest for Global Nuclear Disarmament

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NEW ZEALAND'S VOCAL SUPPORT for global nuclear disarmament predates the end of the cold war by several years. During the 1980s, for example, anti-nuclear sentiment played a prominent role both in New Zealand's domestic politics and in shaping the country's foreign and defence policies. More recently, New Zealand has been an enthusiastic member of the New Agenda Coalition, a small group of member states of the United Nations dedicated to raising the profile of nuclear disarmament.(1) Wellington's anti-nuclear credentials were confirmed at the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) review conference in New York, 24 April-19 May 2000, when it was appointed to chair a subsidiary body …