The Obama administration's Nuclear Posture Review (NPR), released this month, has received much attention for declaring that the United States will not use nuclear weapons against nonnuclear weapon states. As an NGO representative involved in an ongoing debate between Japan and Australia over this issue, I must say the NPR declaration falls well short of what is needed.
The nuclear weapon states, including the U.S., already declared in 1995 that in principle they would not use nuclear weapons against nonnuclear weapon states that are party to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT). The George W. Bush administration, going against this "negative security assurance," adopted a strategy that greatly expanded the role of nuclear weapons. In essence, the Obama administration's new strategy does no more than return to the 1995 policy.
A recent international report recommended going a step further by limiting the role of nuclear weapons to the "sole purpose" of deterring nuclear attacks — thus rejecting any role for nuclear weapons against nonnuclear threats, including biological and chemical weapons. In December last year, the International Commission on Nuclear Nonproliferation and Disarmament (ICNND), led by Japan and Australia, recommended that all nuclear weapon states make such a "sole purpose" declaration. However, the new Obama doctrine failed to adopt this recommendation.