Digests and Blog

Hospital officials and observers on the ground in Syria reported August 10 still another attack with chlorine gas, killing ten or more civilians and injuring over 75 people.  This happened in Aleppo, a large northern Syria city split between rebel- and government-held parts, and the attacks took place in the rebel-held areas of Aleppo apparently as part of air-dropped barrel-bombs from helicopters. Although Syria officially joined the international Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), banning any use of chemicals as weapons, in September 2013, this latest report only adds to the hundreds of…

U.S. President Barack Obama is seeking approval for a UN Security Council resolution to reinforce the norm against nuclear testing, in a move that would coincide with the 20th anniversary of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), which the United States signed in 1996. The Washington Post columnist Josh Rogin quoted National Security Council spokesperson Ned Price as saying that while the administration would like to see the Senate ratify the CTBT, they are “looking at possible action in the UN Security Council that would call on states not to test and support the CTBT’s objectives. We…

On Aug. 12, Pakistan announced at a press briefing that it is "prepared to consider translating its unilateral moratorium [on nuclear testing] into a bilateral arrangement on non-testing with India." This statement is a variation of Pakistan's views on a regional test moratorium. At the June CTBT Ministerial Meeting in Vienna, Pakistan's ambassador said: Following the first nuclear test in 1974 in our neighbourhood, Pakistan made several proposals for keeping South Asia free of nuclear weapons and missiles including a proposal for a regional CTBT. None of these proposals met a…

This op-ed originally appeared in The National Interest. Twenty years ago, the United States took a leading role in negotiations to ban the practice of conducting nuclear-weapon test explosions, which enables states to prove new and more deadly nuclear-warhead designs. The result was the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, which was opened for signature on September 24, 1996. Since then, treaty has been signed by 183 states and has established a powerful taboo against nuclear testing. Only one country—North Korea—has conducted nuclear-weapon test explosions in this century. But the door…

This op-ed originally appeared in CNN. Kingston Reif is the Director for Disarmament and Threat Reduction Policy at the Arms Control Association. You can follow him on Twitter at @KingstonAReif. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his. (CNN)The possibility of Donald Trump winning the presidential election this November has renewed media and public interest in one of the most important responsibilities of the president: commanding America's massive nuclear arsenal and averting nuclear war. Yet what has been lost in the angst that Mr. Trump might soon have the authority to…

August 5 marks the anniversary of the signing of the Partial Test Ban Treaty, which prohibited the testing of nuclear weapons in outer space, underwater, or in the atmosphere. This treaty was signed by representatives of the United States, the Soviet Union, and the United Kingdom, marking an important first step towards controlling and ceasing the harmful results of nuclear testing, such as the tests by the United Kingdom in Western Australia. Collisions, directed by Australian filmmaker Lynette Walworth, takes viewers on a virtual reality (VR) journey into the center of a situation most…

U.S. President Barack Obama is seeking approval for a UN Security Council resolution to reinforce the norm against nuclear testing, in a move that would coincide with the 20th anniversary of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), which the United States signed in 1996. The Washington Post columnist Josh Rogin quoted National Security Council spokesperson Ned Price as saying that while the administration would like to see the Senate ratify the CTBT, they are “looking at possible action in the UN Security Council that would call on states not to test and support the CTBT’s objectives. We…

Proponents of America’s half-a-trillion-dollar nuclear modernization plan argue that the costs will only impose a small financial burden relative to the overall military budget–and an even smaller burden relative to overall federal spending. Loren Thompson, with the Lexington Institute, wrote last month, “Relative to the size of the national economy, the cost of nuclear force modernization wouldn't be much bigger than a rounding error.”  The Defense Department expects the cost to modernize U.S. nuclear forces over the next 20 years to be between $350-$450 billion. When coupled with the cost…

The 2016 Democratic Party Platform, which was released on July 21, says that Democrats "will strengthen the [nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty], push for the ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, and stop the spread of loose nuclear material." This is modified slightly from the 2012 party platform which declares: "We will also work to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and seek a new Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty that prohibits the production of fissile materials intended for use in nuclear weapons." While the 2016 Republican Party Platform does not specifically…

The 2016 James Timbie Forum on Arms Control and Nonproliferation was the seventh annual meeting of a State Department program created in 2010 with the goal of engaging young professionals and students working in the fields of nonproliferation and arms control. From 2010-2015, the annual conference was called “Generation Prague.” This year, the State Department moved to rename the forum in honor of nuclear physicist, diplomat, and 40-year veteran of the State Department James Timbie. Timbie, recently retired, was instrumental in brokering several arms control deals and negotiated with both…