Steering the Course Towards a Safer 2020

Over the course of 2019, the international arms control and nonproliferation system took some serious hits, and the coming year looks to be just as challenging, if not more so.

Foundational arms control and disarmament treaties are in jeopardy, the world’s nuclear-armed states are pursuing new weapons capabilities, and rising tensions between major powers are increasing the risk of conflict.

These are serious challenges.

But in 2020 you can rely on the Arms Control Association to steer the course toward safety. Our dedicated professional staff and high-powered Board members will work to seize upon key opportunities to advance progress.

• We’ll work overtime to build bipartisan support for a decision by President Trump to extend New START. We are making progress, but time is running out. 
• In April, states parties to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)  will convene to review progress and seek to strengthen support for the treaty. The meeting will be contentious. We will work to ensure that a majority of states support a serious plan of action to advance the treaty’s disarmament and nonproliferation goals.
• On August 6 and 9, the world will mark the 75th anniversaries of the atomic bombings that devastated Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Arms Control Association is planning special programming to highlight the human and environmental costs of nuclear weapons.
• As the 2020 election in the United States approaches, we will press Congress and the candidates to support policies that reduce the risk of nuclear use and eliminate nuclear excess. We’ll continue to make the case for a “no first use” policy, work to block Trump funding requests for “more usable” nuclear warheads and new intermediate-range missiles, and we’ll continue to defend the global ban on nuclear testing.

Our work depends on your continued support. You have been there for us in the past, and for that we say: “thank you.”

As we continue to take on unprecedented challenges, and press forward for effective solutions, we ask you again to please help us meet our end-of-the-year fundraising goals.

Please consider making a generous end-of-the-year, tax-deductible, donation.

Thank you and happy holidays to you and yours,

Urgent Appeal for a Nuclear Weapon Free World: Countryman Addresses Hague Conference

Arms Control Association Board Chair Tom Countryman joined several high-level speakers November 26 at a day-long conference sponsored by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the International Physicians to Prevent Nuclear War Netherlands to evaluate today's nuclear threats and to provide concrete ideas and suggestions on how the Netherlands, together with other countries, can take meaningful steps towards a nuclear-weapon-free world.

Other speakers included the Dutch minister of Foreign Affairs Stef Blok; Izumi Nakamitsu, United Nations Under-Secretary-General of Disarmament Affairs; Setsuko Thurlow, Hiroshima survivor; Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland and High Commissioner Human Rights, now chair of  The Elders; and Beatrice Fihn, Executive Director of ICAN (International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons.

Countryman’s speech is available on the Arms Control Association’s website.

Chemical Weapons Convention Coalition Weighs-In at CWC Meeting

Forty members of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) Coalition attended the Twenty-Fourth Session of the Conference of States Parties at the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) at The Hague November 25-29. The CWC Coalition facilitates civil society action in support of the Chemical Weapons Convention and elevates the testimony of analysts, advocates and victims of chemical weapons use.

This year, the CWC Coalition organized 20 statements from NGO leaders during plenary sessions, organized six side events, and distributed daily reports to attendees. Paul Walker, director of the Coalition and board member of the Arms Control Association, delivered a statement on behalf of the CWC Coalition to the states-parties in attendance. Dr. Walker's statement is available online on the Arms Control Association's website.

In Case You Missed It...

• Executive Director Daryl G. Kimball tells BBC World Service why the U.S. and North Korea have been unable to move forward on denuclearization and peace, December 16.
• "Pentagon test of long-banned missile over Pacific," is criticized by Kimball as "a reckless and unnecessary escalation that's going to exacerbate tensions with Russia, China, and North Korea." The Associated Press, December 12.
• "U.S. Tests Missile After Withdrawing From 1987 INF Treaty" in The Wall Street Journal, December 12, with analysis from Kingston Reif, director for disarmament and threat reduction policy.
• "Democrats 'got completely rolled' in National Defense Authorization talks, critics say" via Roll Call, December 11, with comments from Kingston Reif.
• Kelsey Davenport, director for nonproliferation policy, noted that "Russia Upsets Effort to Save 2015 Iran Nuclear Deal" with VOA, December 6.
• Kimball and research assistant Shannon Bugos penned the op-ed "A New Nuclear Deal? Start with New START" for Defense One, December 5.
• Davenport spoke at the Future of Nonproliferation/Arms Control Conference in Dallas, Texas, December 2.
• Senior Fellow Jeff Abramson commented on "Will Trump Loosen Rules on Firearm Exports?" in The Crime Report, November 27.
• Kingston Reif, director for disarmament policy, presented at the Global Zero nuclear policy initiative retreat, Nov. 17-18
• Reif addressed "Is the US About to Test a New Ballistic Missile?" in Defense News,  November 13.
• Countryman spoke to the Strategic & Arms Control Studies program at St. Petersburg State University, and the Moscow Nonproliferation Seminar, November 6-7.
• Countryman presented at the McGill University conference on “The Future of the Nuclear Order,” Montreal, November 1.

On Our Calendar