Observations on steps towards a nuclear-weapon-free world

Soon after 1945, several serious proposals were made for the complete abolition of nuclear weapons. Throughout subsequent decades, attempts to establish global control of the nuclear threat were characterized by only modest and partial steps forward. Many scholars urge, however, that the end of the Cold War has cleared the way for a return to radical solutions to rid the planet of nuclear armament and enter 'phase three' of achieving a nuclear-weapon-free world (NWFW). This paper addresses some of the issues concerned with the immediate steps which should be taken to reach an NWFW, proposed by the Canberra Commission on the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons