Digests and Blog

Nuclear and defense strategists have long understood that the development and deployment of strategic missile interceptors is ineffective against determined nuclear-armed adversaries because it could lead them to build more numerous and sophisticated offensive missile systems — at relatively lower cost and more quickly -- to overwhelm and evade missile defenses.Trump’s “Golden Dome” gambit flies in the face of these realities. Beyond the hoopla and hyperbole of “nearly 100 percent protection” within “three years," Trump’s “Golden Dome” strategic missile defense gambit is deeply flawed,…

The United States and Iran described the first three rounds of negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program as constructive, but comments from Washington and Tehran suggest that key differences remain ahead of the fourth round of talks. Since President Donald Trump announced on April 7 that the United States and Iran agreed to begin talks, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff met three times. The third round of negotiations in Oman on April 26 included technical-level talks between the two sides. Araghchi described the third meeting as “…

April 2025For decades, U.S. global leadership – at the governmental and nongovernmental level – has been a driving force behind the effort to develop and implement a global system designed to control the dangers posed by nuclear weapons.Much of the U.S. government’s work on arms control has relied on a relatively small but key cadre of experts and practitioners at the State Department, parts of the Pentagon, the Department of Energy, parts of the intelligence community, and other key agencies. For example, President John F. Kennedy established the semi-independent Arms Control and Disarmament…

Nuclear Disarmament MonitorMarch 20, 2025U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a two-hour call on March 18 on the war in Ukraine, reaching a limited agreement to stop attacks on electrical infrastructure. The Kremlin mentioned in its readout of the call that the two sides had discussed cooperation on nuclear nonproliferation, while the U.S. statement said the presidents addressed “the need to stop proliferation of strategic weapons.”What is not yet clear is whether the two presidents have begun to discuss ideas regarding how to manage the U.S.-Russian nuclear…

March 2025Ten years ago, the United States, along with China, France, Germany, Russia, and the UK, negotiated one of the most far-reaching, complex and consequential nonproliferation agreements: the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The 2015 Iran Deal put in place limits on Iran’s nuclear program and intrusive international monitoring that ensured it would take more than a year to amass enough bomb grade material for just one bomb.ACA’s director for nonproliferation policy, Kelsey Davenport, monitored the talks, we contributed ideas, and we provided detailed information and analysis…

It has been barely a month since Inauguration day, but it is apparent that Donald Trump is determined to reshape U.S. foreign policy, radically alter alliance relationships, and upend Washington’s approach toward key adversaries, like Russia, in ways that are not yet clear.And here at home, Trump's brash assertion of executive power is putting our nation’s democratic institutions and the rule of domestic law at risk, in part by altering or dismantling key government departments,agencies and functions, all without congressional approval.All of this makes our mission to provide reliable…

U.S. President Donald Trump announced steps to increase pressure on Iran over its advancing nuclear program but said he was not happy about the decision and reiterated his support for negotiating a nuclear deal. Trump’s national security presidential memorandum, issued on Feb. 4, says that the United States will restore “maximum pressure on the government” of Iran and deny “all paths to a nuclear weapon,” according to a White House factsheet. The memorandum also emphasizes that Iran should be “denied” intercontinental ballistic missiles and that its conventional weapons capabilities,…

 By Vann H. Van DiepenOn January 3, the Biden Administration issued a National Security Memorandum that “updated” U.S. policy on missile-related export controls, including U.S. implementation of multilateral commitments under the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR). The MTCR is an informal export control arrangement among states that seek to limit the proliferation of missiles and missile technology that was formed in 1987 and now has 35 partner countries.The Biden administration's 11th hour update loosened four key aspects of U.S. policy in place since September 1993 in several ways.…

December 2024As the Biden administration’s four years in office draw to a close and the Trump 2.0 administration approaches, the world faces a complex, unprecedented array of nuclear risks. At the invitation of the Arms Control Association and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, White House principal deputy national security advisor Jonathan Finer spoke on Dec. 19 on the Biden administration’s efforts to reduce nuclear dangers and adapt U.S. nuclear weapons and nonproliferation policy to an uncertain world.Finer outlined President Joe Biden’s efforts to deal with the challenges…

Inside the Arms Control Association                           November 2024Defending the “Guardrails” Against CatastropheThe risk of nuclear conflict is higher than at any point since the end of the Cold War, and it appears to be growing. Major states are engaged in a qualitative arms race. At the same time the rules, norms, and treaties protecting us from the world’s most dangerous weapons, and against unconstrained nuclear buildups and the spread of nuclear weapons to additional states, are under increasing stress.Just last week, after the White House authorized the use of U.S.-supplied…