Emily B. Landau
Judging by the initial dynamics, the stakes of the 2010 NPT Review Conference (RevCon) that began on May 3 are high. The basic positions of the different parties remain very much as they were at the last RevCon, held in 2005: the US wants to focus primarily on the ongoing challenge of NPT violators, especially Iran; the non-nuclear weapons states demand that the nuclear states do more to address their NPT commitments – both to disarm and to allow transfer of peaceful nuclear technology to the non-nuclear states; Egypt is leading the non-aligned states in pushing for implementation of the non-binding 1995 resolution on the Middle East; and Iran continues to insist that it is a member of the NPT in good standing while hurling accusations in all directions. But important developments since 2005 have created a changed context for the interface of these conflicting interests and agendas, and the end result of the conference is likely to be quite different from 2005.
