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“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

Tuvalu and Gambia Ratify the CTBT

Authored by Gabriela Rosa on April 28, 2022

T hus far in this year, Tuvalu and Gambia have ratified the 1996 Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), bringing the total number of countries who have both signed and ratified the treaty to 172. Honorary Prime Minister of Tuvalu Kausea Matano signed the instrument of ratification for the CTBT on January 24, and the accomplishment was officially marked in a ceremony on March 31 at the United Nations in New York City. Tuvalu signed the CTBT in September 2018. “Our Pacific region has suffered from the effects of decades of nuclear testing,” said Tuvaluan Minister of Foreign Affairs Simon Kofe By...

Five Decades On, Our Work Is Not Done

Authored by Daryl Kimball, Kathy Crandall Robinson, and Tony Fleming on April 27, 2022

Inside the Arms Control Association April 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. That breakthrough followed the entry into force of the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty in 1970. At the same time, the Arms Control Association was established as a project of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, becoming an independent, nonpartisan, nongovernmental organization in 1972. As the first ACA Newsletter from April 1972 notes, the...

Putin’s Assault on Ukraine and Threat of a Wider War

Authored by Daryl Kimball and Kathy Crandall Robinson on March 18, 2022

President Vladimir Putin has chosen the path of destruction instead of diplomacy. The Kremlin’s war on Ukrainian cities, towns, nuclear power stations, hospitals, and civilians is indefensible, illegal, premeditated, and heartbreaking. Making matters worse, Putin’s nuclear saber-rattling is raising the risk of escalation in ways we have not seen since the end of the Cold War. If NATO and Russian military forces become entangled in the fight, the war could widen further and could potentially move to the nuclear level–with catastrophic consequences. Since Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine, our...

IAEA Report Demonstrates Urgent Need to Restore JCPOA

Authored by Julia Masterson on March 4, 2022

(UPDATED March 5) As the fate of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal hangs in balance, a new report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reveals that Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile continues to expand. According to that report, "Verification and monitoring in the Islamic Republic of Iran in light of United Nations Security Council resolution 2231 (2015), GOV/2022/4, March 3, 2022," Iran is now closer than ever to having enough highly enriched uranium-235 that, when further enriched, would be enough for a nuclear bomb. The deal, known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (...

The Role of Arms Control in U.S.-Russian Relations

Authored by Daryl Kimball, Kathy Crandall Robinson, and Tony Fleming on February 7, 2022

Inside the Arms Control Association February 2022 The Role of Arms Control in U.S.-Russian Relations The ongoing major Russian military buildup around Ukraine creates the potential for a catastrophic war that can and must be avoided through serious and deft diplomacy. Among the many factors that have led us to this point is the breakdown of important conventional and nuclear arms control agreements that helped bring an end to the first Cold War. These crucial guardrails, including the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty, the Open Skies Treaty , the ABM Treaty , and the INF Treaty , are no...

Iran Talks Enter Critical Phase

Authored by Julia Masterson on January 19, 2022

As the eighth round of talks to restore the 2015 nuclear deal continues in Vienna, negotiators are struggling to contend with one of Iran’s most difficult demands: a guarantee from Washington that the United States will not withdraw from the deal and reimpose sanctions, as former President Trump did in 2018. Delegations from Iran, China, France, Germany, Russia, and the United Kingdom have gathered in Vienna for eight rounds of talks since April 2021, under the chairmanship of the European Union. The U.S. team is also in Vienna with an aim to negotiate U.S. re-entry to the nuclear deal, known...

U.S., Russia to Continue Strategic Stability Dialogue in 2022

Authored by Shannon Bugos on December 21, 2021

The United States and Russia aim to meet early next year for further talks on the future of arms control to follow the expiration of the last remaining agreement on the two countries’ nuclear arsenals in four years. This will mark the third round of the bilateral Strategic Stability Dialogue since U.S. President Joe Biden took office in January and met in person with Russian President Vladimir Putin in June. The first round took place in July , and the second occurred in September , during which two working groups were formed. These groups are officially named the “Working Group on Principles...

Help Us Bend the Arc of Nuclear History

Authored by Daryl Kimball, Kathy Crandall Robinson, and Tony Fleming on December 17, 2021

Inside the Arms Control Association December 2021 As I look back on my 20 years leading this organization and look forward to preparing the Arms Control Association to tackle tomorrow’s security challenges, it is more apparent than ever that achieving meaningful progress demands persistence. The last few years show we cannot take past arms control gains for granted. We are entering a dangerous new phase in the struggle against The Bomb. We all must redouble our efforts. We’ve made progress, yes. But the nuclear weapons threat has certainly not gone away. The past decade has seen a dearth of...

Iran Plays Hardball in Vienna

Authored by Julia Masterson and Kelsey Davenport on December 9, 2021

Iran’s hardline approach to recent negotiations in Vienna raised further concerns about prospects for diplomatic efforts to restore the 2015 nuclear deal, known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Talks resumed Nov. 29 in Vienna after a five-month hiatus, during which Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi took office and assembled his team. While the Raisi administration’s rhetoric ahead of the negotiations suggested a harder line than his predecessor, Iran’s demands for "sweeping changes" to the text of the agreement and its disinterest in honoring progress made during the...

The 11th Hour for Restoration of Compliance with the JCPOA

Authored by Kelsey Davenport on December 9, 2021

Full restoration of the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran remains the best possible option to avert a nuclear crisis and provide Tehran with sanctions relief, but the Raisi administration’s approach to talks and the country’s growing nuclear program risks jeopardizing those efforts. When talks resumed in Vienna Nov. 29 after a five-month hiatus, Iran rejected most of the hard-fought progress made during the first six rounds of negotiations from April-June and raised new demands incompatible with the deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). While these proposals are unlikely to...