Digests and Blog

Nuclear Disarmament MonitorJuly 25, 2024The second preparatory committee meeting ahead of the 2026 nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference is underway in Geneva. 191 states-parties to the NPT and 72 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are gathering from July 22 to Aug. 2 to review the implementation of the landmark treaty and to develop a forward-looking action plan covering the treaty’s key components: nonproliferation, disarmament, and peaceful uses of nuclear energy.Amid high pressure on the NPT regime, “each pillar of the NPT provides for areas where convergence is…

As U.S. forces and Iranian-backed militias clash in the Middle East, there is a growing risk that another dangerous flash point could ignite conflict between Tehran and Washington: Iran’s advancing nuclear program. Iran is already on the threshold of nuclear weapons six years on from U.S. withdrawal from the multilateral arrangement that had, to that point, successfully contained its nuclear program. Escalating regional tensions could push Tehran to determine it needs a nuclear deterrent for security or the United States to miscalculate Iran’s intentions and prematurely use military force…

Yes, it’s already time to be worried — very worried. As the wars in Ukraine and Gaza have shown, the earliest drone equivalents of “killer robots” have made it onto the battlefield and proved to be devastating weapons. But at least they remain largely under human control. Imagine, for a moment, a world of war in which those aerial drones (or their ground and sea equivalents) controlled us, rather than vice-versa. Then we would be on a destructively different planet in a fashion that might seem almost unimaginable today. Sadly, though, it’s anything but unimaginable, given the work on…

Inside the Arms Control AssociationJuly 2024Today, we are facing a growing and unprecedented array of nuclear weapons dangers. At the same time, this year’s presidential election is also unprecedented, unpredictable, and extremely consequential. History shows that U.S. presidential leadership is one of the most important factors determining whether the nuclear danger will rise or fall. Perhaps the most fundamental responsibility of a U.S. president, who has the sole authority to order the use of nuclear weapons, is to avoid events that could lead to a nuclear war.Unfortunately, mainstream…

The president of the United States has the sole authority and power to launch the nation’s nuclear weapons. Think about that for a moment.Donald Trump’s emotional, erratic, and unhinged behavior during his first term poses a grave threat to our national security. He has driven uncertainty to an aspect of the presidency that requires predictability: the global nuclear balance. This alone renders Trump dangerously unfit to serve as commander in chief.... But today’s Trump is not the same man he was, even just since he left office in 2021. He is more and more detached from reality. In recent…

Iran’s president-elect Masoud Pezeshkian called for improving ties with the West and expressed support for nuclear negotiations during his campaign but said that Tehran cannot be pressured into rolling back its nuclear activities. It is not clear, however, how much space the Supreme Leader will give Pezeshkian to pursue engagement over the country’s nuclear program.Pezeshkian, a member of parliament since 2006 and a former health minister, beat the hard-line, former nuclear negotiator and deputy foreign minister Saeed Jalili in a July 5 runoff. Pezeshkian was the sole reformist amongst the…

By Vann H. Van DiepenOn July 8, House Republicans posted draft legislation that would require the United States to drop controls on exports to Australia, Canada, and the UK of Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) items controlled on the U.S. Munitions List (USML)—undoing a requirement to retain such controls enacted by Congress in December 2023.This proposal comes in the wake of an April 2024 decision by the Commerce Department to remove export controls to Australia and the UK on dual-use MTCR items. All of these actions have been justified in the name of implementing the Australia,…

Inside the Arms Control Association    June 2024This year’s edition of ACA’s Annual Meeting raised national and international awareness about the problems posed by nuclear weapons, what’s at stake, the policy choices ahead, and the important role for concerned people in the United States and beyond.The June 7 conference, titled “Moving Back from the Nuclear Brink,” featured a special video message from UN Secretary-General António Guterres, in which he warned that:“Humanity is on a knife's edge, the risk of a nuclear weapon being used has reached heights not seen since the Cold War. States…

Nuclear Disarmament MonitorMay 2024As efforts by the United States to engage with Russia in talks on nuclear risk reduction and a new nuclear arms control framework remain on hold, a group of Democratic lawmakers in the House and the Senate are urging President Joe Biden to prioritize efforts to engage Russia in bilateral talks on nuclear arms control, and to continue bilateral nuclear risk reduction talks with China, warning of growing risks of nuclear instability.On May 17, a dozen House and Senate Democrats wrote a bicameral letter to Biden on the need for renewed arms control talks amid…

Inside the Arms Control Association            May 2024This year at ACA’s annual meeting, we will delve into some of the most pressing arms control, nonproliferation, and disarmament challenges facing the nation and the world today.We are honored to announce that UN Secretary-General António Guterres will deliver special remarks via video on the nuclear threat and critical steps to reduce nuclear dangers.One of the leading proponents of effective nuclear arms control and more sensible U.S. nuclear weapons policies, Congressman John Garamendi (D-Calif.), will deliver the opening keynote…