Authored by Rachel Stohl on August 30, 2016
Rachel Stohl, board member of the Arms Control Association, wonders why more could not have been accomplished at the Second Conference of States-Parties to the Arms Trade Treaty.
Authored by Kingston Reif, Daryl G. Kimball on August 29, 2016
This op-ed originally appeared in The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. For the second time during his presidency, President Barack Obama and his top advisors are re-evaluating whether to adjust the declared role of nuclear weapons in US national security policy to meet the evolving global strategic environment and reduce the risk of nuclear war. Speaking at the annual meeting of the Arms Control Association on June 6, Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications Benjamin Rhodes announced that the administration “will continue to review whether there are additional steps...
Authored by Shervin Taheran on August 26, 2016
This article originally appeared in Indepth News. This article appears in cooperation with the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) , as part of the initiative ‘Youth for CTBTO’. The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the CTBTO. - Editor WASHINGTON. D.C. (IDN) - Following mass protests against Soviet nuclear weapons testing in Kazakhstan on August 29, 1991, the Kremlin was forced to close the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site, where over 460 nuclear tests were conducted, and declare a moratorium on nuclear testing. This, in turn...
Authored by Paul F. Walker on August 18, 2016
It is important for the international community to determine culpability for the chemical attacks in Aleppo and to hold the attackers accountable to preserve the global abolition of these weapons of mass destruction.
Authored by Daryl Kimball on August 14, 2016
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...
Authored by Kingston Reif on August 13, 2016
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 launch...
Authored by Kingston Reif on August 3, 2016
Modernization proponents argue that the costs will only impose a small financial burden relative to the overall military budget. Are they right?
Authored by Andrey Burin on July 19, 2016
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...
Authored by Kelsey Davenport on July 19, 2016
This op-ed originally appeared in The Huffington Post. Over the course of the presidential campaign, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have taken starkly different positions on the landmark 2015 nuclear deal between six world powers and Iran -‑ an agreement that verifiably blocked Tehran’s path to nuclear weapons for well over a decade and eliminated a major international security threat to the United States and our allies in the region ― but neither has explained how they would work with our allies to strengthen the agreement over the course of their term in office. Trump has suggested that...
Authored by Kelsey Davenport on July 12, 2016
The Iran Deal Turns One It has been one year since Iran and six countries known as the P5+1 (China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States) reached the nuclear agreement known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Although there have been slight hiccups along the way, the implementation of the agreement is proceeding relatively smoothly and the parties have been able to resolve most concerns and ambiguities that have arisen thus far. The secretary-general of the United Nations is expected to submit a report this month to the Security Council on the...
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