CTBTO Leadership Election Heads Into Decisive Week

PeopleDiplomats ♦ Published: May 16, 2021; 21:15 ♦ (Vindobona)

The Vienna-based UN institution of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) is heading for a hotly contested election for the leadership position of Executive Secretary this week.

Map of the CTBT Participation types: In light red and light yellow are the 8 States who are required to ratify the Treaty for the CTBTO to be established. / Picture: © Wikipedia / Canuckguy et al.

The institutional history surrounding the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) is both extremely complex and fascinating.

Indeed, the CTBTO as an organization that can only be established when India, North Korea, Pakistan, China, Egypt, Iran, Israel and the United States, as states who have significant nuclear capabilities, will have ratified the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), a convention that outlaws nuclear test explosions. …