This article analyses the security practices of the anti-nuclear movement in the post-Cold War period through the prism of securitisation theory. By exploring Buzan and Waever's conceptual developments on macrosecuritisations, the practices involved in the struggle against the Bomb are interpreted as securitising moves, in which the anti-nuclear movement is the leading securitiser. In the capacity of securitising actors, nuclear abolition activists argue that nuclear disarmament, under a Nuclear Weapons Convention (NWC), would be the only way to protect humankind from the threat posed by the existence of nuclear weapons. The empirical analysis of these non-state actors and their campaign for a NWC shows that, despite uttering security, the anti-nuclear movement has so far failed to achieve the proposed security measure, that is, nuclear disarmament. Nonetheless, securitisation has been instrumental for these non-state actors as a way of raising an issue on the agenda of decision-makers and urging them to take action.
In the past, states have underestimated the effort required to implement WMD-related treaties. Yet effective national implementation is a prerequisite to upholding agreements and building confidence in compliance with these treaty regimes. Drawing on experience from other arms control and disarmament agreements, this article lays out the most relevant measures for national implementation of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) resulting from Article 5 (national implementation). It also examines other obligations in the TPNW through the lens of national implementation, including initial declarations Articles 2 (declarations), 6 (victim assistance and environmental remediation) and 7 (international cooperation and assistance). The paper focuses on what key elements that TPNW States Parties should address when transposing the international agreement to the national level: standardization; capacity and resources; and international assistance. In doing so, it aims to assist national and international actors in their implementation efforts.
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