Digests and Blog

State Parties to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) finally met in New York at the Tenth Review Conference (RevCon) — and at a moment when the international strategic environment is more unsettled than usual. This RevCon’s goal is similar to others, where NPT signatories are tasked with producing a consensus document that reviews implementation and compliance, and establishes updated commitments, recommendations, and follow-up steps for actions to advance the goals and objectives of the treaty in the future. But this is no ordinary RevCon. Russia’s unprovoked full-scale invasion of…

After the last round of indirect negotiations between the United States and Iran, EU High Representative Josep Borrell circulated a draft agreement to restore the 2015 nuclear deal that he referred to as “final.”In an Aug. 8 tweet, he said “what can be negotiated has been negotiated,” and that it is time for political decisions to be made in the capitals. If the “answers are positive, then we can sign this deal,” he said.Borrell’s decision to end the talks and table a final text appeared to take Iran by surprise. While Tehran rejected the description of the draft as “final,” the Iranian…

Whatever Iran ultimately decides about returning to compliance with the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) years-long investigation into whether Iran failed to declare all of its nuclear materials and activities must continue unimpeded. While the growing proliferation risk posed by Iran’s advancing nuclear program highlights the urgency of reinstating the JCPOA’s strict limits and intrusive monitoring, there is little, if any, space for the United States and other parties to the agreement to negotiate over the agency’s safeguards…

Inside the Arms Control Association August 2022 Russia's ongoing, large-scale war on Ukraine has not only increased human suffering and reminded the world of the risks of nuclear weapons, nuclear threats, and nuclear deterrence, but it has also derailed talks that could lead to new arrangements to maintain verifiable caps, or perhaps reduce, the world’s largest nuclear arsenals–until, perhaps, now. Building on his letter to the Arms Control Association on June 2, U.S. President Joe Biden issued a statement Aug. 1 at the start of the 10th NPT Review Conference in which he declared:  "Even…

Over the long course of the nuclear age, millions of people—from Hiroshima and Nagasaki to the United States, Russia, and around the globe—have stood up to demand meaningful action to halt arms racing, end nuclear weapons testing, reduce the number and role of nuclear weapons, and move toward the elimination of nuclear weapons. But without renewed public pressure and focused international demands for renewed disarmament diplomacy between Washington and Moscow, a dangerous, unconstrained global nuclear arms race is on the horizon. Already unsteady and dangerous relations between Moscow and…

  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…

Earlier this year, two of the largest weapons manufacturing companies held their annual shareholder meetings and voted on proposals meant to address human rights. General Dynamics and Lockheed Martin, whose tanks, missile systems, and other products have been used in conflicts around the world, were pressed to adopt shareholder proposals highlighting a need for due diligence and human rights impact assessment procedures to better address the damage their weapons cause. While these shareholder initiatives did not pass at these meetings, both proposals received a significant amount of…

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…

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…

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 Vladimir…