The P-5 and Nuclear Nonproliferation

This report assesses the contribution the UN Security Council's permanent five (P-5) members—China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States—can make to preventing nuclear proliferation and nuclear terrorism, and it identifies areas where their concerted efforts could be especially useful. Many of its conclusions may also apply to the threats posed by other so-called weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), chemical weapons and biological weapons. But because the P-5 countries, as the only Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) nuclear weapon states, bear special responsibilities in the nuclear area, and because nuclear weapons are in a class by themselves in terms of their destructiveness and their political and security implications, the report deals mainly with the role of the P-5 in addressing nuclear threats.

The report was prepared by a working group of nongovernmental experts (all of whom previously served in government) from each of the P-5 countries. The working group met three times between November 2006 and July 2007. While several government officials from the P-5 countries participated in the group's discussions as observers, the views expressed in the report are those of the working group members—that is, the views of nongovernmental experts—and do not necessarily reflect the positions of any of the P-5 governments.