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Unit 6Nuclear Weapons-Free Zones (NWFZ) and WMD-Free Zones (WMDFZ)
All chapters
  1. 1. Introduction
  2. 2. The History of the NWFZs
  3. 3. Current NWFZs – Common Elements and Individualities
  4. 4. Open Issues
  5. 5. Case Study - The debate about a WMD-Free Zone in the Middle East
  6. 6. The EU and NWFZ/WMDFZ
  7. 7. Summary and Further Reading
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Photograph of a large, circular crater. The image shows the crater’s steep, rugged edges and the surrounding terrain. The crater is a former USSR nuclear test site Semipalatinsk (today's Kazakhstan).

Above: Craters and boreholes dot the former USSR nuclear test site Semipalatinsk in what is today Kazakhstan

The Official CTBTO Photostream Source (CC-BY-2)

Nuclear Weapons-Free Zones (NWFZ) and WMD-Free Zones (WMDFZ)

While the world wrestles with the idea of a world free of nuclear weapons, some regions are already a step ahead. The whole southern hemisphere is a nuclear weapon-free zone (NWFZ) and also in the northern hemisphere such zones are being created. This learning unit focusses on NWFZ and the idea of broadening such zones both geographically and in relation to other weapons of mass destruction.

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Chapters

  1. 1. Introduction

  2. 2. The History of the NWFZs

  3. 3. Current NWFZs – Common Elements and Individualities

  4. 4. Open Issues

  5. 5. Case Study - The debate about a WMD-Free Zone in the Middle East

  6. 6. The EU and NWFZ/WMDFZ

  7. 7. Summary and Further Reading

Learning Objectives

Learning Objectives

After completing this unit, the student will:

  • understand the concept of NWFZ and WMDFZ
  • comprehend the legal basis and the structure of these zones
  • have an overview of the history of their development
  • know the rationale of their establishment
  • have an overview of the role of external actors and the negative security assurances that nuclear weapon states are expected to provide
  • be capable of assessing the EU’s position on NWFZ in general and the Middle East WMDFZ in particular

Credits

  • Anna Péczeli profile image

    Anna Péczeli

    Anna Péczeli, Ph.D., is a senior fellow at the Center for Global Security Research (CGSR) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. She is also an affiliate at the Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC) at Stanford University.From 2019 to 2022, Anna was a postdoctoral research fellow at CGSR. Prior to that, she worked at Stanford University: in 2018-2019 she was a visiting postdoctoral research scholar at The Europe Center, and in 2016-2017 she was a Stanton nuclear security fellow at CISAC. In Hungary, she was a senior research fellow at the Institute for Strategic and Defense Studies (ISDS) at the National University of Public Service, an assistant lecturer at Corvinus University of Budapest, and an adjunct fellow at the Hungarian Institute of International Affairs. During her PhD studies, she held a visiting research fellowship at the Peace Research Institute Frankfurt, and a visiting Fulbright fellowship at the Nuclear Information Project of the Federation of American Scientists in Washington, DC.

  • Erzsébet Rózsa profile image

    Erzsébet Rózsa

    Erzsébet N. Rózsa (born 1959) has an MA in Arabic Studies, Iranian Studies as well as English Studies. She holds a PhD in International Relations (1996). She is a Professor at the University of Public Service, Budapest and is an Academic Advisor at the Institute for World Economics of the Center for Economic and Regional Studies. She is also an External Fellow at the Institute of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Her fields of research include the political, security and social processes of the Middle East, Egypt, Iran, the Iranian nuclear debate, nuclear non-proliferation, as well as the Euro-Mediterranean cooperation institutions.

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Disclosures

Content Warning

This learning unit may contain audio-visual material or texts, which may not be suitable for all audiences.

Funding

This Learning Unit was produced with financial assistance from the European Union. The contents of this Learning Unit are however the sole responsibility of the author(s) and should under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Union.

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Preferred Citation

Anna Péczeli and Erzsébet Rózsa, "Nuclear Weapons-Free Zones (NWFZ) and WMD-Free Zones (WMDFZ)" in EUNPDC eLearning, ed. Niklas Schörnig, Peace Research Institute Frankfurt. Available at https://eunpdc-elearning.netlify.app/lu-06/, last modified 5 May 2025

Editorial Note

This is a beta version of the learning unit, which is regularly optimised. Please report any factual errors or discrepancies to the publisher. (support(at)nonproliferation-elearning.eu). Please note that although the original text was written by the authors, the video production and simplifications were carried out by PRIF.

The EU Non-Proliferation and Disarmament eLearning Course aims to cover all aspects of the EU non-proliferation and disarmament agenda. It's produced by PRIF with financial assistance of the European Union. The contents of individual learning units are the sole responsibility of the respective authors and don't necessariy reflect the position of the European Union.