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Back to Nuclear Ablolition Campaigns
BackGround: Campaign to End Nuclear Weapons
Forty years ago, the fear of nuclear weapons falling into the hands of ever more countries led to the creation of a series of international agreements to limit their spread. The foundation of these efforts, the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT), commits non-nuclear weapon states to permanently foreswear nuclear weapons and requires the original nuclear weapon states -- Great Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- to pursue and achieve nuclear disarmament. Currently, 189 nations are signed on to the NPT.
Today, the threat posed by the spread of nuclear weapons is growing, and the NPT system is under stress. But a surprising chorus of voices from across the political spectrum have called for a nuclear weapons free world and a practical, verifiable series of steps to get us there.
Bipartisan Support
President Ronald Reagan planted important seeds when he declared in 1985: "We seek the total elimination one day of nuclear weapons from the face of the earth." Out of his challenge grew a new call-to-action in 2007, when a bipartisan group of U.S. luminaries-- led by President Reagan's former Secretary of State George Shultz-- laid out a practical series of steps to reach Reagan’s goal. Shultz was joined by former Secretary of Defense Bill Perry, former Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger and former Senator Sam Nunn --Today, both Presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain endorse the goal of a nuclear weapons-free world and many of the steps to get there. And public opinion polls show that three-quarters of Americans agree.
Practical Steps
Freeing the world of nuclear weapons won’t be easy, and it won’t happen overnight. It will require a series of practical steps, taken one after another, to get there. These steps will require U.S. initiative, cooperation among nations, and tough measures to verify that countries are following through. But the alternative -- doing nothing -- is no alternative at all.
Stop the spread of nuclear weapons
The United States must work with the international community to curb efforts to produce material for nuclear weapons, such as plutonium and enriched uranium. As required by treaty, the United States and the major nuclear powers must recommit themselves to their disarmament obligations in the Nonproliferation Treaty.
End the testing and pursuit of new warheads
The United States must join the community of nations banning nuclear test explosions and abandon efforts to develop a new generation of nuclear weapons. The Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) is a key step on the path to a nuclear weapons free world. To date, 179 nations including the U.S. have signed the CTBT and 144 have ratified it. But the United States and eight other key nations must still ratify before the CTBT can become law. In the meantime, the CTBT Organization is building a global network of stations to monitor the planet for nuclear explosions -- so far, 231 stations have been built and certified.
Eliminate existing stockpiles
With arsenals that are head and shoulders above all others, the United States and Russia must publicly commit to the vision of a nuclear weapons free world and immediately begin negotiations for dramatically deeper, verifiable and irreversible reductions of all types nuclear warheads -- to 1,000 or less each.
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