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Nuclear Disarmament
If the history of the nuclear age teaches one clear lesson, it is that nations seek nuclear weapons chiefly because others have them. Deterrence theory teaches that safety from nuclear arms resides in possessing some yourself. So long as any state has nuclear weapons, others will want them. So long as any such weapons remain, it defies credibility that they will not one day be used, by accident, miscalculation or design. And any such use would be catastrophic.
A New Era of Nuclear Disarmament
In this op-ed, written when the US withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, followed one day later by Russia, Ernesto Zedillo warned that nuclear arms control is fast unraveling. Read the op-ed here (external link — opens in new window).
Threats to Nuclear Weapons Disarmament and Non-proliferation
Presentations from the YCSG conference on international cooperation, reiterating and updating the reasons to support a strong and modernized rules-based multilateral system in light of current challenges. One of the areas in which a threat to the multilateral system is particularly consequential is nuclear weapons disarmament and non-proliferation.
Nuclear Arms Control: a Global Service Designed to Protect the Global Commons
Michael Krepon, Co-founder and Senior Fellow, the Stimson Center; Director of Stimson’s programming on nuclear and space issues.
Transcript of video (PDF – opens in new window)
Entering a World of Unregulated Arms Races and New Capabilities
Nikolai Sokov, Senior Fellow, James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, Middlebury Institute for International Studies at Monterey.
Transcript of video (PDF – opens in new window)
Arms Control and National Security
Yan Xuetong, Dean, Institute of Modern International Relations, Tsinghua University; Editor-in-Chief, Chinese Journal of International Politics.
Causes of Disinvestment From the Nuclear Order
George Perkovich, Ken Olivier and Angela Nomellini Chair and Vice President for Studies overseeing the Nuclear Policy Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Transcript of video (PDF – opens in new window)
Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament
The Elders assert that nuclear weapons are a threat to the future of all life on earth and any use will be catastrophic. Ernesto Zedillo is a member of The Elders, an independent group founded by Nelson Mandela and made up of global leaders working together for peace, justice and human rights.
Read The Elders’ policy paper here (PDF — opens in new window). More information on The Elders nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament program (external link — opens in new window).
Keeping an Eye on the Nuclear Ball
World leaders must retain focus on arms control and nuclear non-proliferation argues Richard Weitz, director of the Center for Political-Military Analysis, in this YaleGlobal article (external link — opens in new window).
Creating the Conditions for Nuclear Disarmament
This paper, written by George Perkovich of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, was developed in preparation for the 2020 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treat on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), which has been postponed to be held no later than August of 2021. The paper aims to encourage governments, international experts, and civil society to undertake dialogue on creating the conditions for nuclear disarmament.
Read the paper here (PDF — opens in new window).