Fall 2026 NPT Simulation



This course is a simulation of the first NPT Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) meeting for the upcoming review cycle. It follows the last NPT Review Conference in April-May 2026, which concluded without a consensus final document. The focus of the next PrepCom is hard to anticipate, but it is apt to be contentious given the multiple new and continuing security challenges on the international scene, including with respect to nuclear disarmament, nonproliferation, and peaceful uses of nuclear energy, as well as regional security. Among major subjects likely to be debated are: the pace of and potential for meaningful nuclear disarmament, arms control, and nuclear risk reduction; further strengthening of the NPT review process; the erosion of nuclear norms accentuated by imprudent rhetoric about nuclear weapons use and attacks on and foreign occupation of civilian nuclear facilities; the integrity of nuclear security assurances; the deployment of nuclear weapons outside of national territories, sharing of naval propulsion technology; viability of nuclear-weapon-free zones; DPRK nuclear brinkmanship; Iran’s nuclear intentions; the future of the CTBT; the potential for nuclear terrorism; the impact of disruptive technologies, and the prospects for peaceful nuclear use. The base point for the simulation is the “real world” at the time of the course.