Is Nonproliferation in Jeopardy? Recommendation for U.S. Nuclear Weapons Policy

Abstract

As the most influential nation in global security affairs, the United States is in a unique position to shape a new era in nuclear weapons. Since the dropping of the bomb in Hiroshima, the United States has continuously pursued a strict policy of nonproliferation. But current unilateral moves by the Bush administration threaten to undermine existing collective secu­rity agreements that were meant to prevent the spread and reduce the threat of nuclear weapons. By pursuing a national missile defense (NMD) policy and refusing to negotiate changes to the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), U.S. leaders endanger their own nonproliferation goals, and risk unraveling a multilateral nuclear arms control regime that took decades to develop.