Arms Control Now Blog

Yesterday, foreign ministers from many different countries assembled at the United Nations to discuss the future of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. They released a Joint Ministeral Statement (PDF) reaffirming their "strong support" for the CTBT. Here are some of the highlights of the Statement: The CTBT is Necessary The entry into force of the Treaty is vital to the broader framework of multilateral disarmament and non-proliferation. Test ban will help preserve the nonproliferation regime [T]he CTBT will make an important contribution by constraining the development and qualitative…

On September 23rd, Foreign Ministers from a range of countries will meet at the UN headquarters in New York City to hear a statement from UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and to promote the CTBT's eventual entry into force. According to a CTBTO media advisory: The CTBT bans all nuclear explosions. Although already signed by 182 countries and ratified by 153, the Treaty can only enter into force once it is signed and ratified by 44 ‘Annex 2’ States. Nine have yet to do so: China, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Pakistan and the United…

Assistant Secretary of State for Verification, Compliance and Implementation Rose Gottemoeller spoke at the U.S. Strategic Command Deterrence Symposium yesterday, enumerating the finer points of the administration's final push for New START ratification and reaffirming its commitment to pursuing CTBT ratification in the future. "Ratification of the CTBT is central to leading other nuclear weapons states toward a world of diminished reliance on nuclear weapons, reduced nuclear competition, and eventual nuclear disarmament," Secretary Gottemoeller said. Though ratifying the CTBT "will not…

In an excellent editorial on August 11, The Salt Lake Tribune criticizes Mike Lee for his inconsistent and often misinformed position on the CTBT and urged Utah's Senate delegation to support the treaty. After signing a right-wing petition that included opposition to the treaty, then reconsidering and expressing support for ratification, the candidate for Senate announced last week that he was once again opposed to ratification of the CTBT. "Clearly, Lee is having difficulty deciding on this issue," the Tribune writes. "That's fine. It's complex. But we would urge him to return to the…

The American Bar Association's House of Delegates announced on August 10 that it "urges the United States to ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty." The resolution passed the 561-member body by a unanimous voice vote, and no members spoke in opposition to the treaty. Similarly, the ABA House of Delegations passed a resolution in 1994 to call for the U.S. government to curb the spread of nuclear weapons through measures like a comprehensive test ban and further support and continuation of the NPT.

According to the statement: The 64th session of the United Nations General Assembly declared 29 August as the International Day against Nuclear Tests through the unanimous adoption of its resolution 64/35 on 2 December 2009. The Day is meant to galvanize the efforts of the United Nations, Member States, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, academic institutions, youth networks and the media in informing, educating and advocating the necessity of banning nuclear tests as a valuable step to achieving a safer world. The Preamble of the resolution emphasizes “that every effort…

Last Friday, to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon became the first sitting Secretary General to attend the memorial service for the bombing, where he called for the entry into force of the CTBT by 2012. "Now is the time...The time for rapid entry into force of the (CTBT). Let us set the goal of 2012," he said. Members of the United States, French and British governments also attended the ceremony for the first time. Ban Ki-Moon also announced at the service that he will convene an annual high-level meeting in September to…

Utah Republican candidate for the Senate Mike Lee has reversed his earlier common-sense position against renewed nuclear testing, and is now indicating that if elected, he would not support the CTBT. In May, Lee announced that he would most likely vote for CTBT ratification. At the time, Lee remarked that, "I don't think we need [nuclear testing] and I think, on the whole, we as Americans would be safer if the treaty were in place." The Salt Lake Tribune reported that Lee's deputy campaign manager Dan Hauser said last Thursday, "[The treaty is] basically [stating] you could never use a…

The European Union Council has provided a contribution of €5,280,000 as part of their EU Strategy against Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction, the CTBTO announced last week. The contribution marks the largest ever voluntary contribution by the EU to the CTBTO, and is more than €5 million beyond the EU Member States' assessed annual contribution. A CTBTO press release states that the EU contribution will directly fund work related to the CTBTO auxiliary seismic station, strengthening on site inspections and the monitoring of noble gases and providing technical assistant to African,…

Published in June, former CTBT deputy chief negotiator for Russia, Victor Slipchenko has written an especially useful VERTIC Occasional Paper on the challenges facing U.S. ratification of the test ban, and considers what the United States' main counterpoint, Russia, could do to help its prospects. If you haven't done so already, it's certainly worth the read. "The Obama administration will need as much help as it can get from other CTBT supporters - Russia in particular - if entry into force is ever to become reality," he writes. Slipchenko identifies two criticisms of the treaty that are…