Nuclear Weapons
Reagan and Gorbachev sign the INF Treaty (1987). Reagan library.
RECENT ANALYSIS
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Mar 9, 2010
Lips and Teeth
If it is true that North Korea’s WMD programs are being funded principally from illicit arms sales, then it is imperative that China take its UN Security Council sanctions obligations more seriously. In this new analysis, Chad O'Caroll questions whether this duty will ever be compatible with China’s goal of maintaining North Korean regime stability. -
Mar 2, 2010
FY 2011 Threat Reduction and Nonproliferation Funding
In his historic Prague speech on nuclear weapons, President Obama pledged that the United States would lead “a new international effort to secure all vulnerable nuclear material around the world within four years.” While last year's budget request was well below what is necessary to begin the hard work of achieving this lofty goal, the administration's Fiscal Year 2011 request includes significant increases for many key threat reduction and nonproliferation programs. -
Feb 24, 2010
The Obama disarmament paradox: A rebuttal
Greg Mello's recent Bulletin article "The Obama Disarmament Paradox" distorts the Obama administration's nuclear agenda by making unjustified assumptions that discredit President Barack Obama's historic commitment to seek a nuclear-weapon-free world, write John Isaacs and Lt. Gen. Robert Gard, Jr. (USA, ret.) in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. - See more articles »
START Resource Center
Click here to read "Strengthening U.S. Security Through Non-Proliferation and Arms Control: Recommendations for the Obama Administration"
2009-2010 College Debate Topic on Nuclear Weapons: A Guide to Background Materials, Publications, & Organizations
By the late 1960s, it became apparent that while the arms race between the United States and Soviet Union was yielding thousands of additional nuclear weapons, it was not leading to greater security for either country or the world at-large.
Thus, in 1968, the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, commonly known as the NPT, was opened for signature. In addition to establishing an international commitment to nonproliferation, the NPT laid the groundwork for eventual disarmament by all existing nuclear states. This disarmament vision was embodied in Article VI, which called upon signatories to negotiate "effective measures relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race" as well as "general and complete disarmament."
The NPT served as a prelude to the first round of Strategic Arms Limitations Talks (SALT I) between the U.S. and Soviet Union. On May 26, 1972, SALT I produced bilateral pledges to freeze at existing levels the number of strategic ballistic missile launchers possessed by each country and to take other steps to mitigate the arms race. Most notably, SALT I also produced the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty banning missile defense systems as well as an interim agreement on strategic offensive arms.
In the past 30 years, various important agreements were negotiated and signed between the United States, Soviet Union (and its successor states), and other parties to reduce strategic nuclear stockpiles. These include the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, Strategic Arms Reduction Talks I (START I) and the Lisbon Protocol, Strategic Arms Reduction Talks II (START II), Strategic Arms Reduction Talks III (START III), and the Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty (SORT or Moscow Treaty).
FY2010 BUDGET ANALYSIS
Oct 21, 2009 Analysis of FY 2010 Defense Authorization Conference Agreement (HR 2647)
Jun 2, 2009 Obama Nuclear Nonproliferation Budget Disappointing
May 15, 2009 President Obama’s First Budget Shortchanges Nunn-Lugar
May 8, 2009 Analysis of the Fiscal Year 2010 Pentagon Spending Request: May "Full Request"
Feb 26, 2009 Fiscal Year 2010 Pentagon Defense Spending Request: February "Topline"
ARTICLES & FACT SHEETS
Dec 10, 2009 Nuclear Weapons: The Modernization Myth
Dec 9, 2009 Fact Sheet: 2010 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference
Dec 9, 2009 Fact Sheet: 2010 Global Nuclear Security Summit
Dec 3, 2009 Pruning the Nuclear Triad? Pros and Cons of Bombers, Missiles, and Submarines
Nov 12, 2009 For Safety, Ban Nuclear Tests
Nov 2, 2009 How to Ratify the Test Ban Treaty
Jul 15, 2009 Factsheet on the Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty (FMCT)
Jul 2, 2009 Backgrounder on Obama-Medvedev July 2009 Moscow Summit
Jun 22, 2009 Factsheet on the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty
Apr 16, 2009 A Strategy for Achieving Senate Approval of the CTBT
Mar 23, 2009 Corral That Bomb Testing (C.T.B.T.): Politics, Messaging, Verification, Cheaters
Nov 14, 2008 Understanding and Preventing Nuclear Terrorism
Jul 3, 2008 Governmental Reorganization to Strengthen Arms Control and Nonproliferation
Apr 15, 2008 Potential U.S. Ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) Fact Sheet
Apr 15, 2008 Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) Fact Sheet
Mar 19, 2008 10 Reasons to Support a Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT)
ADDITIONAL READING
- Congressional Research Service, "U.S. Strategic Nuclear Forces: Background, Development, and Issues," updated August 5, 2008.
- Congressional Research Service, "The Reliable Replacement Warhead Program: Background and Current Developments," updated July 23, 2008.
- Congressional Research Service, "Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban-Treaty: Background and Current Developments," updated May 28, 2008.
- Congressional Research Service, "Arms Control and Nonproliferation: A Catalog of Treaties and Agreements," updated April 9, 2008.