The following article is an opinion piece by John Carl Baker, a senior program officer at Ploughshares Fund. Views expressed in opinion articles are exclusively the author’s own and do not represent those of NK News.

The 10th Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) review conference concluded Friday without making much progress, but it did give the nuclear powers an opportunity to present themselves in a favorable light — including in relation to Russia and North Korea. 

A working paperfrom the U.S., U.K., and France, for instance, spoke of their “special charge to be responsible custodians of nuclear weapons.” And