Digests and Blog

It has been barely a month since Inauguration day, but it is apparent that Donald Trump is determined to reshape U.S. foreign policy, radically alter alliance relationships, and upend Washington’s approach toward key adversaries, like Russia, in ways that are not yet clear.And here at home, Trump's brash assertion of executive power is putting our nation’s democratic institutions and the rule of domestic law at risk, in part by altering or dismantling key government departments,agencies and functions, all without congressional approval.All of this makes our mission to provide reliable…

Trump Ramps Up Pressure on IranU.S. President Donald Trump announced steps to increase pressure on Iran over its advancing nuclear program but said he was not happy about the decision and reiterated his support for negotiating a nuclear deal. Trump’s national security presidential memorandum, issued on Feb. 4, says that the United States will restore “maximum pressure on the government” of Iran and deny “all paths to a nuclear weapon,” according to a White House factsheet. The memorandum also emphasizes that Iran should be “denied” intercontinental ballistic missiles and that its conventional…

 By Vann H. Van DiepenOn January 3, the Biden Administration issued a National Security Memorandum that “updated” U.S. policy on missile-related export controls, including U.S. implementation of multilateral commitments under the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR). The MTCR is an informal export control arrangement among states that seek to limit the proliferation of missiles and missile technology that was formed in 1987 and now has 35 partner countries.The Biden administration's 11th hour update loosened four key aspects of U.S. policy in place since September 1993 in several ways.…

Inside the Arms Control Association                               December 2024Surveying the WMD Challenges That Lay AheadAs the Biden administration’s four years in office draw to a close and the Trump 2.0 administration approaches, the world faces a complex, unprecedented array of nuclear risks. At the invitation of the Arms Control Association and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, White House principal deputy national security advisor Jonathan Finer spoke on Dec. 19 on the Biden administration’s efforts to reduce nuclear dangers and adapt U.S. nuclear weapons and…

Inside the Arms Control Association                           November 2024Defending the “Guardrails” Against CatastropheThe risk of nuclear conflict is higher than at any point since the end of the Cold War, and it appears to be growing. Major states are engaged in a qualitative arms race. At the same time the rules, norms, and treaties protecting us from the world’s most dangerous weapons, and against unconstrained nuclear buildups and the spread of nuclear weapons to additional states, are under increasing stress.Just last week, after the White House authorized the use of U.S.-supplied…

Nuclear Disarmament MonitorNovember 14, 2024The Nov. 5 re-election of Donald Trump to the U.S. presidency will create new challenges and some limited opportunities for nuclear disarmament. In his first term, the president-elect endorsed the development and deployment of new nuclear weapons and elevated the role of nuclear deterrence in U.S. military strategy. Trump pursued an ill-fated attempt to bring China into the U.S.-Russian arms control framework, creating uncertainty about a five-year extension of New START that was ultimately endorsed by the Biden administration. But, the former…

Inside the Arms Control Association                October 2024Navigating the Road AheadEarly voting has already begun and millions of American voters will register their choices at the ballot box by November 5.The outcome of the 2024 election will have far-reaching impacts on a wide range of issues that concern all of us, including the growing dangers posed by nuclear weapons.Whatever the outcome of the presidential and congressional races may be, the Arms Control Association team is poised to take action to help:Reinforce the norms against nuclear weapon use, nuclear threats, nuclear…

Inside the Arms Control Association  September 2024Since the outset of Russian president Vladimir Putin’s illegal, unprovoked, all-out invasion of Ukraine, the specter of nuclear weapons use has grown. Putin has tried to use nuclear threats to try to coerce and intimidate, and at one point in late-2022 he seriously considered the use of nuclear weapons against Ukraine.  But Russia’s nuclear arsenal and threats of nuclear first use have failed to prevent Western military assistance to help the people of Ukraine resist Russian aggression.And unlike nuclear threats that were issued during the…

Nuclear Disarmament MonitorSeptember 12, 2024At the Sep. 4 plenary session of the UN General Assembly, China announced it has taken over the role of coordinating the P5 process from Russia in line with the group’s rotating schedule. China “looks forward to continuing dialogue and cooperation among the P5 on the basis of their 2022 joint statement on the prevention of nuclear war and exploring feasible initiatives to reduce nuclear risks,” said the Chinese delegation. The P5 process is a multilateral discussion forum involving the five nuclear powers recognized by the nuclear Nonproliferation…

Inside the Arms Control AssociationAugust 2024For the first time in more than 35 years, there is serious talk about increasing the size and diversity of the already massive and costly U.S. nuclear arsenal. Such an expansion would increase global nuclear dangers and reverse decades of progress in slashing U.S. and Russian nuclear weapons stockpiles.In recent months, we’ve seen a barrage of proposals from nuclear weapons insiders and defense industry-supported think tanks calling for more U.S. strategic and tactical nuclear weapons to address a future with two “near peer” nuclear adversaries:…