Blogs | Arms Control Association

Login/Logout

“It will take all of us working together – government officials, and diplomats, academic experts, and scientists, activists, and organizers – to come up with new and innovative approaches to strengthen transparency and predictability, reduce risk, and forge the next generation of arms control agreements.”

– Wendy Sherman

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State

June 2, 2022

Arms Control NOW

Colorado Chemical Weapon Stockpile Site on Target to Meet Destruction Deadline

Authored by Leanne Quinn on August 10, 2022

With two out of three munition-specific destruction campaigns completed and a new proposal to accelerate the destruction of all remaining munitions, the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant (PCAPP) is on its way to meeting the 2023 chemical weapons stockpile elimination deadline. When the United States ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention in 1997, it accepted the treaty mandate to eliminate its chemical weapons stockpile and related facilities completely and verifiably by April 2007, with the posibility of a five-year extension until 2012. But both the 2007 and the 2012 deadlines...

EU Makes Final Push on Iran Nuclear Deal

Authored by Kelsey Davenport on July 28, 2022

The European Union is making one last push to restore U.S. and Iranian compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). In a July 26 op-ed in the Financial Times , EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell said that the “space for additional significant compromises has been exhausted.” He has “put on the table a text that addresses, in precise detail, the sanctions lifting as well as the nuclear steps needed to restore” compliance with the JCPOA. “Decisions need to be taken now to seize this unique opportunity to succeed,” he said. Borrell’s warning...

Nuclear Threats and the Dangers of Deterrence

Authored by Daryl Kimball, Kathy Crandall Robinson, and Michelle Liu on July 19, 2022

Inside the Arms Control Association July 2022 President Vladimir Putin’s threats of the possible use of nuclear weapons against any state that might interfere with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have reawakened the world to the dangers of nuclear war. The possibility of military conflict between Russian and NATO forces has significantly increased the risk of nuclear weapons use. Recent public opinion polling indicates that 80 percent of Americans are concerned that the war will expand and Russia will use nuclear weapons. I was honored to be invited by the Austrian government to speak last month...

U.S.-Russian Dialogue Remains Paused as Putin Wields Nuclear Threats

Authored by Shannon Bugos on July 19, 2022

Editor’s Note : To keep pace with developments, as of July 2022, the Arms Control Association is superseding the “ U.S.-Russia Nuclear Arms Control Watch ” with the “Nuclear Disarmament Monitor.” The goal of the newsletter’s overhaul is to enable coverage of arms control issues beyond bilateral U.S.-Russian efforts, such as potential nuclear risk reduction and disarmament diplomacy involving China and the other NPT nuclear-armed states. This inaugural issue of the new publication recaps developments since the beginning of 2022. In the opening days of Russia’s war on Ukraine, President...

Deadline Set for Restoring the Iran Nuclear Deal?

Authored by Kelsey Davenpor on June 16, 2022

Iran’s retaliation for a censure from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors put a ticking clock on efforts to restore the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Iran’s decision to disconnect 27 IAEA cameras led the agency’s Director-General Rafael Mariano Grossi to declare that the gap in monitoring will be a “fatal blow” to efforts to restore the nuclear deal within 3-4 weeks. At that point, he said that the IAEA’s ability to maintain its continuity of knowledge about Iran’s nuclear activities will be compromised, which impacts...

Reinforcing Nuclear Taboos and Jumpstarting Disarmament Diplomacy

Authored by Daryl Kimball, Kathy Crandall Robinson, Tony Fleming, and Michelle Liu on June 10, 2022

Inside the Arms Control Association June 2022 At our June 2, 2022, Arms Control Association Annual Meeting , our all-star array of panelists and speakers, along with video messages from special guests, underscored the enduring value of persistent smart civil society efforts to deliver information, solutions, and pressure on policymakers to reduce and eventually eliminate the existential threats posed by nuclear weapons. More than 140 friends and members attended the meeting, which was held at the National Press Club, and more than 400 viewed the live webcast. Our discussions made it clear...

IAEA Reports Signal Escalating Nuclear Crisis With Iran

Authored by Kelsey Davenport on June 1, 2022

The most recent reports from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) detailing Tehran’s failure to declare illicit nuclear activities from its pre-2003 weapons development effort and the continued growth of Iran’s nuclear program underscores the urgency and importance of restoring the mutual U.S. and Iranian compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Full implementation of the JCPOA would roll back Iran’s nuclear advances, restore intrusive monitoring, and provide the best possible assurance that Tehran’s nuclear activities are...

Fifty Years Ago, the First Strategic Arms Limitation Agreements Were Concluded

Authored by Daryl G. Kimball on May 25, 2022

Fifty years ago, on May 26, 1972, the first bilateral nuclear arms control agreements were struck: the U.S.-Soviet Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty and the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. The breakthrough agreements, which began the process of slowing the nuclear arms race, followed the entry into force of the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty in 1970. The U.S.-Soviet agreements were the product of intensive negotiations that began in 1969. The chief American negotiator was Gerard Smith, who had been appointed the director of the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency by then-president Richard...

Growing Nuclear Danger Represents A Call to Action

Authored by Daryl Kimball, Kathy Crandall Robinson, Tony Fleming on May 23, 2022

Inside the Arms Control Association May 2022 Over the long course of the nuclear age, millions of people around the world have stood up to demand meaningful action to reduce and eliminate the threats posed by nuclear weapons. Civil society pressure in the United States has informed, influenced, and catalyzed action by successive presidential administrations to conclude agreements to slash nuclear stockpiles, halt nuclear testing, and reduce the risk of nuclear war. Since 1972, the Arms Control Association has been in the middle of these efforts. Fifty years ago this week, the first of many...

EU Attempts To Save Iran Negotiations

Authored by Kelsey Davenport on May 20, 2022

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell expressed optimism that talks to restore the 2015 nuclear deal would resume after the EU’s lead negotiator Enrique Mora traveled to Tehran in an attempt to get negotiations back on track. Borrell said May 13 that Mora’s trip was “positive enough” to relaunch talks to bring the United States and Iran back into compliance with the nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The EU continues to act as an intermediary between the United States and Iran, which are not negotiating directly to restore the JCPOA. Before the...