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A World Free of Nuclear Weapons

February 2010

February 2010

Since the first atomic bombs exploded in 1945, some have tried to rid the world of nuclear weapons. President Obama has embraced this goal with new vigor. This issue of eJournal USA examines the challenges to achieving nuclear disarmament. It conveys the hopes of some thinkers, and explains the doubts of others.

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Inside This Publication

Volume 15, Number 2, ISSN 1948-4399 (online)

FROM THE EDITORS

Threat and Promise

  • Obama’s Commitment

    Ellen O. Tauscher, Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security
    Other people have talked about achieving a world without nuclear weapons. President Obama is trying to make it happen.

  • The Transformation of U.S. Nuclear Policy

    Joseph Cirincione, President, Ploughshares Fund
    President Obama faces plenty of obstacles, especially cynicism.

  • Playing Percentages

    An Interview With Brent Scowcroft, Former U.S. National Security Adviser
    Zero nuclear weapons could make for an even more unstable world.

  • Nonproliferation’s Contribution

    George Perkovich, Director, and Deepti Choubey, Deputy Director, Nuclear Policy Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
    Cooperation among the nuclear powers on preventing proliferation requires upholding the bargain between disarmament and nonproliferation.

  • Fission, Fusion

    Nuclear weapons can achieve their destructive power in two different ways.
  • Beyond Existing Treaties

    Rebecca Johnson, Executive Director, Acronym Institute for Disarmament Diplomacy
    The 2010 review conference on nuclear weapons nonproliferation should start laying the groundwork for a treaty abolishing nuclear weapons.

Disarmament Attempts Past

  • Successes and Failures

    Jeremi Suri, Professor of History, University of Wisconsin-Madison
    The 20th century had some successes and some failures in arms control.

U.S. and Russia

  • Why the Stockpiles?

    Jonathan Winkler, Associate Professor of History, Wright University
    Maintaining huge and expensive nuclear warhead stockpiles was the cost of peace during the Cold War.

  • U.S.-Russia Balancing Act

    Dmitri Trenin, Director, Carnegie Moscow Center
    Russian leaders publicly support the idea of a world free of nuclear weapons but lack a clear strategy to advance this vision.

  • Megatons to Megawatts

    Andrew Newman, Research Associate, Harvard University
    Thanks to the Megatons to Megawatts program, half of U.S. nuclear energy comes from dismantled Russian nuclear warheads.

Perspectives

  • Young People to the Fore

    Johan Bergenäs, Research Associate, Monterey Institute of International Studies
    Progress toward a world rid of nuclear weapons depends on the world’s young people.

  • A Safer World for All

    Jayantha Dhanapala, President, Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs
    A verifiable global agreement on eliminating nuclear weapons would make all of the world’s people safer equally.

  • The Commitment of Non-Nuclear-Weapons States

    Irma Argüello, Founder and Chair, Nonproliferation for Global Security Foundation
    All countries must learn that abolishing nuclear weapons will enhance the security of all countries.

Timeline

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