Login/Logout

*
*  
“The Arms Control Association and all of the staff I've worked with over the years … have this ability to speak truth to power in a wide variety of venues.”
– Marylia Kelley
Tri-Valley Communities Against a Radioactive Environment
June 2, 2022
Editor's Note
Share this

Latest ACA Resources

Miles A. Pomper

When it comes to agreements governing dangerous weapons and dangerous materials, there is sometimes a significant chasm between the lofty aims of such accords and the often gritty details that are needed to make them truly effective on a day-to-day basis.

The Chemical Weapons Convention has won widespread support since it entered into force nearly 10 years ago. Nearly all of the countries in the world have signed or ratified the treaty, which bans the development, production, stockpiling, transfer, and use of chemical arms. As Jonathan Tucker points out in this month’s cover story, however, several important gaps and limitations in the treaty’s strict verification regime have become apparent. If not corrected, they could frustrate the treaty’s ability to prevent the proliferation of such weapons.

Similarly, since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, countries have adopted new international standards intended to provide stronger protection for nuclear material. So far, however, these standards have been quite general and have lacked effective enforcement. George Bunn argues that the UN Security Council should consider measures to remedy these shortcomings, including a greater role for the International Atomic Energy Agency in monitoring the implementation of the new rules.

In another feature article, Jack Boureston and Jennifer Lacey look at South Africa. That country has struggled to square a commitment to consistency and fairness on nonproliferation and disarmament issues with the reality that rhetoric defending the nuclear prerogatives of all developing countries may aid those, such as Iran, that are breaking global rules. They urge South Africa to strike a careful balance between idealism and realism in order to advance the global nonproliferation and disarmament agenda.

Our news section this month covers the UN Security Council’s approval of a sanctions resolution on Iran, the most recent round of negotiations aimed at ending North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, and new studies that cast doubt on the need to overhaul the U.S. nuclear arsenal.

It also features two extended news analyses. One examines how November’s congressional elections will shape U.S. arms control and nonproliferation policy. The other looks at the 2006 Biological Weapons Review Conference, where modest progress came as a pleasant surprise to many countries.