Surveying the WMD Challenges That Lay Ahead

Inside the Arms Control Association
December 2024

Surveying the WMD Challenges That Lay Ahead

As 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 nonproliferation policy to an uncertain world.

Finer outlined President Joe Biden’s efforts to deal with the challenges posed by:

Russia’s nuclear behavior and the looming expiration of the last remaining bilateral arms control agreement.
Its concerns about China’s nuclear buildup.
How Russia and China developments have influenced U.S. nuclear weapons policy and planning.
The evolving challenges posed by North Korea and Iran.

Finer emphasized the essential need to continue to reinforce efforts to engage through arms control and disarmament diplomacy to reduce and eliminate WMD risks.

Following Finer’s remarks, we engaged in a conversation on several key issues and he took questions from the audience.

After Finer’s remarks concluded, our expert panel – including Madelyn Creedon, chair of the 2023 Congressional Commission on the Strategic Posture of the United States, Adam Mount, senior fellow at the Federation of American Scientists, and James Acton, co-director of Carnegie’s Nuclear Policy program – explored key considerations surrounding U.S. nuclear forces and requirements, and options for arms control constraints to head off a dangerous three-way arms race involving the United States, Russia, and China.

You can watch a video recording of the entire event online here or via C-SPAN, which broadcast the session live.

And for an in-depth analysis of the challenges and ways forward on some of the top issues of 2025, check-out the five essays in the December issue of Arms Control Today exploring the question: “Trump to Regain Control of U.S. Nuclear Policy. Now What?”

With gratitude,

Daryl G. Kimball,
Executive Director

In 2024: Double the Impact of Your Gift to ACA!

As 2024 draws to a close, the risks of nuclear conflict are high and growing, arms racing is accelerating, and arms control guardrails are in jeopardy. At ACA, our team is intensifying our work to meet the increasingly difficult nuclear weapons challenges of our time. We can only make progress with the help of loyal, committed, and well-informed advocates for commonsense solutions posed by the world’s most dangerous weapons – like you. And this is a great time to give, because until the end of the year you can double your impact, gifts up to $20,000 will be matched thanks to a generous ACA member. This holiday season and beyond, we are grateful for your generous support. Thank you. Please make a year-end gift now.

Stronger Together: Building Field Collaboration for Nuclear Disarmament

Though we’re modest in size, ACA has and can bend the arc of nuclear weapons history in a safer direction. However, given the scale and the scope of today’s nuclear weapons challenges, there is no single organization working in the field today that has the resources, capacity, and political power to effect the change needed today. History shows that we are stronger and more effective together, and we can eventually succeed even against long odds.

That’s why ACA, with the support of the Prospect Hill Foundation and the partnership of the Nuclear Threat Initiative, organized a very successful “Nuclear Disarmament Campaigners Strategy Retreat” on Dec. 5-6.

The gathering included a diverse group of more than 50 leaders, experts, and an exciting generation of smart younger campaigners from 28 organizations working nationally, internationally, and at the local, grassroots levels.

The in-person gathering reinforced our shared commitment to working in collaboration for nuclear disarmament at a fraught and challenging moment. Together, we identified common goals and priorities for the next 2-4 years, we discussed a game plan to launch some new and more impactful initiatives, and we agreed on next steps to help expand our outreach to engage a wider array of concerned citizens in an effort to halt and reverse a new nuclear arms race and get back on track toward a world without nuclear weapons.

We’ll keep our ACA members and friends updated as we roll out new initiatives next year.

Cast Your Ballot for the 2024 “Arms Control Person(s) of the Year”

The 2024 election season is not quite over! You can still vote online by Jan. 13 for one of ten outstanding nominees for “Arms Control Person of the Year.”

Since 2007, the independent, nongovernmental Arms Control Association has nominated individuals and institutions that have, in the previous 12 months, advanced effective arms control, nonproliferation, and disarmament solutions and raised awareness of the threats and the human impacts posed by mass casualty weapons.

You can read about this year's nominees and find the ballot here: ArmsControl.org/ACPOY. Follow the discussion on social media using the hashtag #ACPOY2024.

ACA Teams Up with Kazakhstan to Promote Action on NWFZs

On Dec. 12, ACA co-hosted a roundtable discussion with Kazakhstan’s Ambassador to the United States, Yerzan Ashikbayev (pictured below, center) with key Senate staff, diplomats, and civil society experts on the critical role of nuclear-weapon-free zones (NWFZs) in strengthening global security.

The meeting, which will be the first in a series, focused on the opportunity and value of U.S. ratification of the protocols to three NWFZs - the African, South Pacific, and Central Asian - that would codify legally-binding assurances by the five major nuclear weapon states not to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against states in these zones. The United States is the only remaining hold-out among the five that has not ratified the protocols.

For more information on the case for ratification, see ACA’s Issue Brief, “The Case for Senate Action on the Protocol to the Central Asian Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone,” from Feb. 2024.