Blogs | Arms Control Association

Login/Logout

“For 50 years, the Arms Control Association has educated citizens around the world to help create broad support for U.S.-led arms control and nonproliferation achievements.”

– President Joe Biden

June 2, 2022

Arms Control NOW

Welcome to the New Home for Project for the CTBT!

Authored by Shannon Bugos on May 19, 2020

The Project for the CTBT first emerged when the Obama administration stated that it would pursue the ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty ( CTBT ). “To achieve a global ban on nuclear testing, my administration will immediately and aggressively pursue U.S. ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty,” President Barack Obama said in Prague in April 2009. Unfortunately, the treaty’s ratification by the United States has yet to pass. The purpose of the Project for the CTBT is to provide the public and policymakers with sound information and analysis about the treaty so as to...

Nevertheless, We’re Persisting …

Authored by Daryl Kimball, Kathy Crandall Robinson, and Tony Fleming on May 18, 2020

Since I wrote to you in April, the human toll of the global coronavirus pandemic has grown and the public health forecast about the crisis remains murky. The pandemic is not only affecting our daily lives, but also accelerating several worrying trends in international and security affairs. We continue to witness the decline of U.S. leadership, which is often necessary to forge international cooperation on an array of global threats, including weapons-related dangers, that don’t respect national borders. With your support, the staff and the board of directors continue working hard to bring...

U.S. Seeks Iran Arms Embargo Extension | P4+1 and Iran Nuclear Deal Alert

Authored by Kelsey Davenport and Julia Masterson on May 13, 2020

U.S. Seeks Iran Arms Embargo Extension The United States is considering a range of options to prevent the October 2020 expiration of a UN embargo that restricts arms sales to and from Iran. Those options include making a legal case that the United States remains a bona fide participant of the nuclear deal with Iran that it withdrew from in May 2018 in order to use a Security Council provision to block the embargo’s expiration. The embargo’s October 2020 expiration date is written into UN Security Council Resolution 2231 , which endorses and helps implement the nuclear deal, formally called...

Responses to Audience Questions from April 29 New START Briefing

Authored by Kingston Reif and Shannon Bugos on May 4, 2020

Top former U.S. administration officials last week expressed support for a five-year extension of the 2010 New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty ( New START ), the last remaining arms control agreement between the United States and Russia that is set to expire in February 2021. “Put me down in the column of extension, and the reason for that is the clock is running,” said Admiral (ret.) Michael Mullen, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, during an April 29 event hosted by the Arms Control Association. Rose Gottemoeller, lead U.S. negotiator for the treaty, and Lt. Gen. (ret.) Frank...

Prevention Is the Only Cure

Authored by Daryl Kimball, Kathy Crandall Robinson, and Tony Fleming on April 24, 2020

We were looking forward to seeing many of you in person today, the original date for our 2020 Annual Meeting. While the immediate focus of the world's attention is, appropriately, on the national and global response to COVID-19 pandemic, the many weapons-related challenges we work on with your support have not gone away. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas noted at a virtual conference held earlier this month, "While we are fighting against the coronavirus, we must not neglect our work on other global issues. Arms control and disarmament are crucial for global peace and stability." Here at the...

Potential U.S. Open Skies Withdrawal Announcement Coming Soon | U.S.-Russian Nuclear Arms Control Watch

Authored by Kingston Reif and Shannon Bugos on April 23, 2020

Potential U.S. Open Skies Withdrawal Announcement Coming Soon The United States could officially submit its intent to withdraw from the Open Skies Treaty by the end of September, despite strong support for the treaty in Congress and from allies and former U.S. officials. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Defense Mark Esper have decided to move forward with a U.S. withdrawal from the treaty, the Guardian reported April 5. The report indicated that a statement of intent would be forthcoming soon, with official notification to withdraw coming likely by the end of September. Per the...

Iran Delays Announcing Nuclear Achievements | P4+1 and Iran Nuclear Deal Alert

Authored by Kelsey Davenport and Julia Masterson on April 15, 2020

Iran Delays Announcing Nuclear Achievements The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) announced March 27 that it developed a new advanced centrifuge and would unveil the machine in April, but it appears that event may have been postponed due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The AEOI may have intended to display the new centrifuge during a ceremony marking the country’s National Nuclear Technology Day, an annual event during which officials recap the country’s nuclear accomplishments of the past year. National Nuclear Technology Day was scheduled for April 8, but Behrouz Kamalvandi, a spokesman...

OPCW Investigation Confirms Syria Responsible for Three Chemical Attacks in 2017

Authored by Julia Masterson on April 13, 2020

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) concluded with confidence that Syria’s Air Force was responsible for sarin and chlorine attacks on the rebel-held town of Ltamenah in March 2017. The OPCW’s findings are detailed in an inaugural April 8 report by the organization’s Investigation and Identification Team (IIT), a body established with a mandate to attribute responsibility for the use of chemical weapons in Syria. Chemical weapons attacks have continued on an irregular basis throughout the country’s ongoing civil war, despite Syria’s accession to the Chemical...

We’re All In This Together...

Authored by Daryl Kimball, Kathy Crandall Robinson, and Tony Fleming on March 24, 2020

Dear Arms Control Association Members and Friends: We hope that you and your families are taking care and staying safe during this unprecedented worldwide struggle against the novel coronavirus crisis. Whether it is managing the impacts of a global disease pandemic, addressing the ongoing global climate emergency, or preventing the outbreak of nuclear war, we are all in this together. The coronavirus crisis underscores how effective global governance and smart, coordinated actions at the international, national, and community level can make a difference. Our staff and Board of Directors...

IAEA Raises Safeguards Questions | P4+1 and Iran Nuclear Deal Alert

Authored by Kelsey Davenport and Julia Masterson on March 18, 2020

IAEA Raises Safeguards Questions International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Rafael Grossi raised concerns in March about Tehran’s failure to cooperate with an agency investigation into possible storage and use of undeclared nuclear materials at three locations in Iran. In a March 3 report to the agency’s Board of Governors, Grossi outlined the agency’s efforts since January 2019 to request information from Iran about activities at the sites and documented Tehran’s refusal to cooperate with the agency’s investigation. Iran also refused the IAEA’s request in January 2020 to...