Deteriorating relations between the major nuclear powers have stymied progress on nuclear arms control and disarmament for more than a decade. As bleak as the situation is, however, reports of the death of nuclear arms control are greatly exaggerated, and last month, the Biden administration outlined a viable path for moving back from the nuclear brink that deserves serious attention and support.
Excerpts of Remarks by Keynote Speakers, as Prepared for Delivery
Some in Congress are pushing for higher funding for existing and new nuclear weapons programs, including for the development of nuclear-armed submarine-launched cruise missiles (SLCM-N). This would bring back a nuclear weapon type that the U.S. withdrew from service 30 years ago and retired a decade ago. (June 2023)
The space for negotiations between Washington and Tehran over Iran's advancing nuclear program may be opening up after U.S. and Iranian officials expressed support for reaching an agreement and Iran took limited steps to increase monitoring of its nuclear program.
Iran’s recent willingness to work with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to increase transparency on its nuclear program could help open diplomatic space for additional steps toward decreasing tensions and rolling back Iran’s nuclear advances. The United States should take advantage of this limited window.
Forbidden: Receiving Pope Francis’s Condemnation of Nuclear Weapons
By Drew Christiansen, SJ, and Carole Sargent
Georgetown University Press
February 2023
During the 2020 U.S. presidential campaign, Joe Biden pledged to “restore American leadership on arms control and nonproliferation…and work to bring us closer to a world without nuclear weapons.”
Russia terminates New START data exchanges with the United States. Facility for tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus to be completed by July, according to Russia. U.S. lawmakers want more nuclear weapons to counter China.