Arms Control and Nonproliferation

Traditional arms control agreements are no longer effective in keeping rogue states from acquiring weapons of mass destruction and lethal technology. Innovative solutions such as the Proliferation Security Initiative hold much greater promise.

HIGHLIGHTS

  • Missile Defense Policy in 2012 Elections Missile Defense Policy in 2012 Elections

    Issues 2012 provides candidates for elected office the ability to quickly identify the key issues of the day and present clear policy recommendations, supported by facts, for addressing them. Read More.

  • Holding Terrorists Accountable Holding Terrorists Accountable

    The United States is at war. Since the September 11, 2001, attacks, the United States has detained alien unprivileged belligerents under the law of war and the congressional Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF). Read More.

Our Research & Offerings on Arms Control and Nonproliferation
  • Issue Brief posted May 22, 2012 by James Phillips Iran Nuclear Talks: U.S. Should Stand Firm

    The revived nuclear talks with Iran, set to resume May 23 in Baghdad, face an uncertain and risky future. Iran has a long history of exploiting diplomatic talks on the nuclear issue as a means of forestalling international pressure, easing sanctions, and buying time for its steadily advancing nuclear program.…

  • Issue Brief posted April 12, 2012 by Bruce Klingner North Korean Missile Launch Demands Strong U.S. Response

    North Korea defied international pressure and launched its Unha-3 missile on April 12. U.S. and South Korean officials indicate that the missile failed several minutes after launch. Although Pyongyang had characterized the launch as that of a peaceful civilian satellite, it is a blatant violation of existing U.N. Security Council…

  • Issue Brief posted March 31, 2012 by Baker Spring CTBT: New Study Fails to Resolve Differences over Risks to U.S. Nuclear Arsenal

    On March 30, the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) released a report that is already starting to be described as having resolved all of the technical issues surrounding the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). Descriptions of the NAS study by CTBT advocates are certain to be…

  • Issue Brief posted March 22, 2012 by Ted R. Bromund, Ph.D. U.S. Needs Red Lines for Arms Trade Treaty Negotiations

    The final Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) for the U.N. Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) in February decided that, in preparation for the July 2–27 conference in New York that will finalize the ATT, U.N. member states should by March 31 submit short statements on the provisions that they believe should define any…

  • Issue Brief posted March 16, 2012 by Bruce Klingner North Korea Missile Announcement Undermines Diplomatic Outreach

    North Korea announced that it would launch a satellite in mid-April, a provocative move that jeopardizes a recent diplomatic agreement with the United States. Despite Pyongyang’s attempts to portray the launch as a peaceful civilian satellite program, it would be an unequivocal violation of U.N. resolutions 1718 and 1874, which…

  • Issue Brief posted March 2, 2012 by James Phillips The Obama–Netanyahu Summit: Time to Present a Common Front Against Iran

    When President Obama meets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on March 5, the Iranian nuclear issue will dominate their agenda. The two leaders have starkly different perceptions of Iran’s evolving nuclear threat and how best to confront it. Both governments have publicly aired their differences in…

  • Backgrounder posted March 1, 2012 by Baker Spring Obama’s Defense Budget Makes Protecting America its Lowest Priority

    Abstract: Despite Administration claims to the contrary, President Barack Obama’s budget proposal for FY 2013 would reduce national defense to the lowest of the major budget priorities of the federal government. The combination of the budget request and the Budget Control Act of 2011 would reduce the military’s personnel levels…

  • Issue Brief posted February 29, 2012 by Bruce Klingner North Korean Nuclear Freeze: A Positive but Limited Development

    Washington has announced that North Korea has acquiesced to several longstanding U.S. and South Korean demands related to Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons programs. North Korea’s agreement to freeze its nuclear activities under international observation marks a major reversal after nearly four years of refusal. The development is particularly surprising since it…

  • Issue Brief posted February 27, 2012 by Baker Spring, Michaela Bendikova Fail-Safe Failure? Metrics on the Nuclear Arsenal Are Inadequate

    President Obama’s fiscal year (FY) 2013 budget request uses inadequate metrics to evaluate the strategic objective to “maintain a safe, secure, and effective nuclear arsenal to deter attack on the U.S. and on our allies and partners.” Two categories being evaluated are: …

  • Issue Brief posted February 24, 2012 by James Phillips, James Jay Carafano, Ph.D. Syrian WMD: Counter-proliferation Contingency Planning Needed

    Syria’s embattled regime is likely to hold out for many more months but eventually could implode with many dangerous consequences for the surrounding region. One of the risks is that chemical weapons—and possibly radioactive materials from its nuclear program—could fall into the hands of terrorists. The U.S. needs a strategy…

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  • Issue Brief posted March 22, 2012 by Ted R. Bromund, Ph.D. U.S. Needs Red Lines for Arms Trade Treaty Negotiations

    The final Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) for the U.N. Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) in February decided that, in preparation for the July 2–27 conference in New York that will finalize the ATT, U.N. member states should by March 31 submit short statements on the provisions that they believe should define any…

  • Issue Brief posted February 21, 2012 by Ted R. Bromund, Ph.D. U.S. Must Stand Its Ground on the U.N. Arms Trade Treaty

    The final Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) for the U.N. Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) was held last week. The purpose of this PrepCom was to adopt rules of procedure for the U.N. Conference on the Arms Trade Treaty, which will be held in New York July 2–27. This conference is intended to…

  • Backgrounder posted March 1, 2012 by Baker Spring Obama’s Defense Budget Makes Protecting America its Lowest Priority

    Abstract: Despite Administration claims to the contrary, President Barack Obama’s budget proposal for FY 2013 would reduce national defense to the lowest of the major budget priorities of the federal government. The combination of the budget request and the Budget Control Act of 2011 would reduce the military’s personnel levels…

  • Backgrounder posted January 27, 2012 by Baker Spring, Michaela Bendikova Time to Modernize and Revitalize the Nuclear Triad

    Abstract: The U.S. nuclear triad of heavy bombers, intercontinental-range ballistic missiles (ICBMs), and submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) is aging. The nuclear testing moratorium, which has reached nearly two decades, and the required reductions under New START are magnifying questions about the U.S. nuclear arsenal’s reliability. These growing questions will eventually…

  • Issue Brief posted April 12, 2012 by Bruce Klingner North Korean Missile Launch Demands Strong U.S. Response

    North Korea defied international pressure and launched its Unha-3 missile on April 12. U.S. and South Korean officials indicate that the missile failed several minutes after launch. Although Pyongyang had characterized the launch as that of a peaceful civilian satellite, it is a blatant violation of existing U.N. Security Council…

  • Lecture posted February 14, 2007 by Kim R. Holmes, Ph.D. North Korea Nuclear and Missile Issues: What's the Solution?

    Delivered on February 13, 2007 With the Six-Party Talks just concluding in Beijing, it certainly is a good time to discuss North Korea. We are fortunate indeed that, as always, the Institute for Corean-American Studies is focusing Washington's attention on a grave matter that…

  • Issue Brief posted March 31, 2012 by Baker Spring CTBT: New Study Fails to Resolve Differences over Risks to U.S. Nuclear Arsenal

    On March 30, the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) released a report that is already starting to be described as having resolved all of the technical issues surrounding the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). Descriptions of the NAS study by CTBT advocates are certain to be…

  • Backgrounder posted March 26, 2010 by James Phillips Iran's Nuclear Program: What Is Known and Unknown

    Abstract: The Obama Administration's engagement policy toward Iran has failed to defuse the nuclear standoff. Instead, Iran has continued to conceal and lie about its nuclear weapons program in an attempt to stall until it can present…

  • Backgrounder posted November 17, 2010 by James Jay Carafano, Ph.D., Richard Weitz, Ph.D. EMP Attacks—What the U.S. Must Do Now

    Abstract: Most Americans—whether members of the public or politicians in Congress—ignore or are unaware of the very real threat of an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack. A nuclear device detonated high in the atmosphere above the American mainland can easily disable the country’s electrical grid—shutting…

  • Backgrounder posted September 1, 2010 by Kim R. Holmes, Ph.D., James Jay Carafano, Ph.D. Defining the Obama Doctrine, Its Pitfalls, and How to Avoid Them

    Abstract: President Barack Obama has said that America would reach out to other countries as “an equal partner” rather than as the “exceptional” nation that many before him had embraced; that “any world order that elevates one nation…

Find more work on Arms Control and Nonproliferation
  • Issue Brief posted May 22, 2012 by James Phillips Iran Nuclear Talks: U.S. Should Stand Firm

    The revived nuclear talks with Iran, set to resume May 23 in Baghdad, face an uncertain and risky future. Iran has a long history of exploiting diplomatic talks on the nuclear issue as a means of forestalling international pressure, easing sanctions, and buying time for its steadily advancing nuclear program.…

  • Issue Brief posted April 12, 2012 by Bruce Klingner North Korean Missile Launch Demands Strong U.S. Response

    North Korea defied international pressure and launched its Unha-3 missile on April 12. U.S. and South Korean officials indicate that the missile failed several minutes after launch. Although Pyongyang had characterized the launch as that of a peaceful civilian satellite, it is a blatant violation of existing U.N. Security Council…

  • Issue Brief posted March 31, 2012 by Baker Spring CTBT: New Study Fails to Resolve Differences over Risks to U.S. Nuclear Arsenal

    On March 30, the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) released a report that is already starting to be described as having resolved all of the technical issues surrounding the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). Descriptions of the NAS study by CTBT advocates are certain to be…

  • Issue Brief posted March 22, 2012 by Ted R. Bromund, Ph.D. U.S. Needs Red Lines for Arms Trade Treaty Negotiations

    The final Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) for the U.N. Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) in February decided that, in preparation for the July 2–27 conference in New York that will finalize the ATT, U.N. member states should by March 31 submit short statements on the provisions that they believe should define any…

  • Issue Brief posted March 16, 2012 by Bruce Klingner North Korea Missile Announcement Undermines Diplomatic Outreach

    North Korea announced that it would launch a satellite in mid-April, a provocative move that jeopardizes a recent diplomatic agreement with the United States. Despite Pyongyang’s attempts to portray the launch as a peaceful civilian satellite program, it would be an unequivocal violation of U.N. resolutions 1718 and 1874, which…

  • Issue Brief posted March 2, 2012 by James Phillips The Obama–Netanyahu Summit: Time to Present a Common Front Against Iran

    When President Obama meets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on March 5, the Iranian nuclear issue will dominate their agenda. The two leaders have starkly different perceptions of Iran’s evolving nuclear threat and how best to confront it. Both governments have publicly aired their differences in…

  • Backgrounder posted March 1, 2012 by Baker Spring Obama’s Defense Budget Makes Protecting America its Lowest Priority

    Abstract: Despite Administration claims to the contrary, President Barack Obama’s budget proposal for FY 2013 would reduce national defense to the lowest of the major budget priorities of the federal government. The combination of the budget request and the Budget Control Act of 2011 would reduce the military’s personnel levels…

  • Issue Brief posted February 29, 2012 by Bruce Klingner North Korean Nuclear Freeze: A Positive but Limited Development

    Washington has announced that North Korea has acquiesced to several longstanding U.S. and South Korean demands related to Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons programs. North Korea’s agreement to freeze its nuclear activities under international observation marks a major reversal after nearly four years of refusal. The development is particularly surprising since it…

  • Issue Brief posted February 27, 2012 by Baker Spring, Michaela Bendikova Fail-Safe Failure? Metrics on the Nuclear Arsenal Are Inadequate

    President Obama’s fiscal year (FY) 2013 budget request uses inadequate metrics to evaluate the strategic objective to “maintain a safe, secure, and effective nuclear arsenal to deter attack on the U.S. and on our allies and partners.” Two categories being evaluated are: …

  • Issue Brief posted February 24, 2012 by James Phillips, James Jay Carafano, Ph.D. Syrian WMD: Counter-proliferation Contingency Planning Needed

    Syria’s embattled regime is likely to hold out for many more months but eventually could implode with many dangerous consequences for the surrounding region. One of the risks is that chemical weapons—and possibly radioactive materials from its nuclear program—could fall into the hands of terrorists. The U.S. needs a strategy…

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Find more work on Arms Control and Nonproliferation
External Resources on Arms Control and Nonproliferation