Future Global Nonproliferation Partnership Would Need More Follow-Through

Before the G-8 summit in Heiligendamm, nonproliferation experts in the U.S. government lobbied the other member countries to endorse another so-called "10 + 10 over 10" plan that would have extended G-8-led multinational WMD threat reduction efforts after 2012. As in 2002, the United States would have pledged $10 billion, with the other seven G-8 governments contributing another $10 billion, during the decade after 2012. If adopted, the U.S. proposal would have extended the "Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction," launched at the June 2002 G-8 summit in Kananaskis, Canada.

At the summit, however, the participating countries focused their attention on other issues, such as climate change, rather than pursuing new nonproliferation initiatives. Their concluding "Statement on Non-Proliferation" (pdf file) applauded the original partnership as a "unique and successful joint effort," but acknowledged that "more has to be done to increase the efficiency of our cooperation."

The Global Partnership has served as the main overarching multilateral framework under which foreign governments support, primarily through bilateral programs, threat reduction activities relating to weapons of mass destruction. It provides for enhanced coordination of national programs aimed at limiting the proliferation of dangerous chemical, biological, and nuclear agents, as well as missiles and related technologies. At the 2002 summit, the United States pledged to contribute $10 billion to the initiative over a 10-year period, and the other G-8 members promised a comparable amount.