Daryl G. Kimball

Fifty years after the Cuban missile crisis brought the world to the brink of a nuclear holocaust, the threats posed by the bomb have changed, but still hang over us all. Today, there still are nearly 20,000 nuclear weapons, and nine nuclear-armed states. More countries have access to the technologies needed to produce nuclear bomb material, and the risk of nuclear terrorism is real.

Today, the independent, Arm Control Association welcomed the United Nations General Assembly's endorsement of the new Arms Trade Treaty, which will for the first time establish common international standards that must be met before states authorize transfers of conventional weapons or export ammunition and weapons parts and components. The treaty will be open for signature beginning in June.

Today, the independent, Arm Control Association welcomed the new, compromise Arms Trade Treaty text that has emerged from two intense weeks of final negotiations and years of multilateral talks among the 193 members states of the United Nations.

(United Nations, NY)--Today, arms control analysts welcomed the new, compromise Arms Trade Treaty text that has emerged from intense negotiations and that states may endorse on the final day of the March 18-28 UN diplomatic conference.

Diplomats from the United States and over 100 other countries will meet in at the United Nations in New York this month for the "final" meeting to negotiate a legally-binding, global Arms Trade Treaty (ATT).