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“Your association has taken a significant role in fostering public awareness of nuclear disarmament and has led to its advancement.”
– Kazi Matsui
Mayor of Hiroshima
June 2, 2022
Editor's Note
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Daniel Horner and Elisabeth Erickson

Treaties in trouble are the subject of two articles in this month’s issue. In one, Wolfgang Zellner examines the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty and the Adapted CFE Treaty. The latter was never ratified, and Russia has suspended its implementation of the former. At the heart of the problem is the presence of Russian armed forces in Georgia and Moldova. Zellner argues that reviving the CFE Treaty regime is critical and that the parties to the treaty should either exclude disputed territories or find “status-neutral solutions.”

Paul Meyer analyzes the prospects for a fissile material cutoff treaty at the Conference on Disarmament (CD). Treaty advocates applauded the CD’s May 29 adoption of a program of work, but events since then, which Meyer describes in detail, have largely doused the initial optimism. Supporters of the treaty need to find a way out of the CD’s chronic gridlock or consider moving the negotiations to another venue, Meyer says.

In contrast, the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) appears to have some momentum behind it, in part because of the rhetorical support of President Barack Obama. Verification is a key issue for the CTBT in the U.S. Senate, where it will face a crucial test. In our cover story, Ambassador Tibor Tóth describes how the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization, which is responsible for putting in place a system to monitor and verify the CTBT, has created “a very high probability today that a militarily significant test anywhere on the planet will be detected.”

In our news section, several stories provide detailed coverage of arms control issues that do not have a profile as high as the CTBT’s. Among them are Jeff Abramson’s report on the failed attempt to expand the UN Register of Conventional Arms and Rachel Weise’s coverage of the British decision to revoke five licenses for arms exports to Israel.

Elsewhere in the issue, the complicated nuclear legacies of Ronald Reagan and Robert McNamara are examined by Paul Boyer and J. Peter Scoblic, respectively. Boyer reviews Martin and Annelise Anderson’s new book, which highlights Reagan’s pursuit of nuclear disarmament. However, Boyer argues, a key part of Reagan’s legacy is his strong support of missile defense, which blocked progress on disarmament. McNamara, who died July 6, left a “fraught legacy,” says Scoblic, who draws an illuminating comparison between McNamara’s approaches to Vietnam and nuclear weapons policy.

Finally, we sadly note the Aug. 25 death of Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), a champion of arms control and disarmament. His contributions to arms control will be the subject of future coverage.