Canada S Nuclear Non Proliferation Policy

Since the first atomic weapon was detonated in 1945, Canadians have debated not only the role of nuclear power in their uranium-rich land but also their country’s role in a nuclear world. Should Canada belong to international alliances that depend on the threat of nuclear weapons for their own security? Should Canadian-produced nuclear technologies be exported? What about the impact of atomic research on local communities and the environment? This incisive nuclear history engages with much larger debates about national identity, Canadian foreign policy contradictions during the Cold War, and Canada’s global standing to investigate these critical questions.

In July 2005, the United States and India announced a bold agreement to restore nuclear co-operation. The deal, nearing finalization in late 2007, has been vigorously critiqued by arms control advocates anticipating dire consequences for the non-proliferation regime. For Canada, the implications of re-opening nuclear cooperation with India are particularly complex, rekindling historical animosities and challenging Canada's longstanding commitment to global nuclear disarmament. Canada, as a party to the Nuclear Suppliers Group, has a voice in the ultimate disposition of the agreement. What are Canada's choices? What should be its goals and policies? This volume presents the analyses and conclusions of a select group of scholars and governmental policy-makers who work extensively with these issues, gathered for a workshop in Ottawa on 19-20 March 2007 convened by the Simons Centre of the University of British Columbia. Available November 2007 through major booksellers in Canada & the US.

This sixth volume of the book series on Nuclear Non-Proliferation in International Law focuses on current legal challenges regarding nuclear disarmament and security. The Series on Nuclear Non-Proliferation in International Law provides scholarly research articles with critical commentaries on relevant treaty law, best practice and legal developments, thus offering an academic analysis and information on practical legal and diplomatic developments both globally and regionally. It sets a basis for further constructive discourse at both national and international levels. Jonathan L. Black-Branch is Chair of the ILA Committee on Nuclear Weapons, Non-Proliferation and Contemporary International Law and President and CEO of ISLAND - The Foundation for International Society of Law and Nuclear Disarmament. Dieter Fleck is Former Director International Agreements & Policy, Federal Ministry of Defence, Germany; Member of the Advisory Board of the Amsterdam Center for International Law (ACIL); Rapporteur of the International Law Association (ILA) Committee on Nuclear Weapons, Non-Proliferation & Contemporary International Law.