Abstract
This article examines the prospects for survival of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in the post-9/11 world, arguing that American non-proliferation policy and the future of the NPT are inextricably linked. It discusses the shift from the Clinton administration’s nuclear arms control and disarmament agenda of the mid-1990s to the Bush administration’s preference for informal arms control regimes and the new policy of non-proliferation exceptionalism that distinguishes between good proliferators (India, Pakistan) and bad proliferators (North Korea, Iran). The Bush administration’s penchant for unilateral foreign security policies and its double standards in implementing export restrictions on sensitive technologies while disavowing American nuclear disarmament obligations undermine the NPT bargain and endanger the treaty. The Bush administration’s security-oriented strategy and acceptance of selective proliferation for balance of power purposes may lead to the emergence of a silent crowd armed with nuclear weapon capabilities. The key to preserving the relevance of the NPT is to reconnect nuclear non-proliferation with nuclear disarmament, while strengthening the treaty’s enforcement machinery against non-compliers.