EVERYONE agrees that getting rid of weapons of mass destruction is a great
idea. With so many of the tensions that created vast arsenals of nuclear,
chemical and biological weapons now gone or much diminished, the argument for
cutting back weapons stockpiles is incontestable. That’s been recognised over
the past decade with what looked like rapid progress towards agreements over
disarmament.
Now the picture is less rosy. Governments are getting nervous. At the meeting
of the 187 signatories to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in New York last
month, the five original nuclear powers paid lip service to ideas of disarmament…
