The international community will meet in...

Held every five years since the Non-Proliferation Treaty was signed in 1968 and became international law in 1970, the Review Conferences have not helped make great strides towards a nuclear-free world. The previous conference, held in 2005, almost ended in scandal, with the attendees unable to agree a final document.

Since it is clear that the non-proliferation regime must be strengthened to prevent the appearance of new nuclear powers, this year they will try to hammer out ways of doing this.

It is a truly Herculean task, given the numerous differences between the signatories, who are to discuss who should do what to strengthen non-proliferation and what they must sacrifice in the process. A review of "achievements" to date would be useless, as their only achievement came in 1995, when they decided to extend the treaty indefinitely.

Since the late 1940s, the world"s powers have been trying to limit access to their nuclear club and to encourage other countries

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