Quotes of the week: “When the hegemonic power that helped create the non-proliferation regime declines, so does the regime.” — T.V. Paul, Power vs. Prudence: Why Nations Forgo Nuclear Weapons (2000) “The cold truth is that the alternative to a…
Long time reader, first time Wonker. My thanks to the Wonk-Supreme for allowing me to contribute. The president of the negotiations for a nuclear weapons ban convention has just released her first draft of the proposed treaty. As will become…
New Feature: Quote of the week “The demagogue, though he professes (and fails) to readjust matters in the interests of the majority of the electors, yet stereotypes mediocrity, organizes intolerance, disparages exhibitions of uncommon qualities, and glorifies conspicuous exhibitions of…
Republican insurgents in the Congress are now in full tear-down mode, aiming their wrecking balls at what’s left of seven decades of bipartisan achievement to reduce nuclear dangers and nuclear arsenals. The disruptors are now ascendant in Washington, with the…
Early drafts of the Nuclear Ban Treaty green-lighted by the UN First Committee seek to prohibit the development, production, testing, acquisition, stockpiling, transfer, deployment, threat of use and use of nuclear weapons. This would be the most ambitious treaty negotiated…
India tried hard to join the Nuclear Suppliers Group with strong backing from the Obama Administration. It was a bridge too far. There was no consensus at the NSG meeting in Seoul to accept India’s candidacy, which was muddied by…
Twenty years since completion of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty negotiations, the Treaty remains in limbo because of its non-entry-into-force provision. States recognized by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty as having the Bomb didn’t want to shut the door completely against…
Back in the day – that would be the 1960s, ‘70s and ‘80’s — arms racing was the norm. The “action-reaction” phenomenon ruled. If one superpower unveiled a new weapon system or improved hard-target-kill capabilities, the other superpower was sure…
Predictably, the Wall Street Journal’s editorial page has declared, “North Korea’s test shows the continuing failure of arms control.” The Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty has 183 signatories and 164 ratifications. It sets a global norm against testing nuclear devices that…
As numbers-based arms control wanes, norms become even more important. Norms can be clarified in Codes of Conduct or established by customary practice. The most important norm in our field is the non-use of nuclear weapons in combat. Few expected…
