Arms Control Treaties: New START, NPT, CTBT, and FMCT

BASIC has followed developments around nuclear arms control treaties for over twenty years. This page includes links to recent coverage and resources for key treaties that BASIC has focused on as key steps in achieving progress towards our vision.

• New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START)

Signed by Presidents Obama and Medvedev on April 8, 2010, New START replaces the 1991 START treaty limiting U.S. and Russian strategic nuclear weapon systems. The agreement introduces lower ceilings for the numbers of deployed warheads and delivery systems, and continues many of the necessary verification procedures. New START entered into force on February 5, 2011.
 

• Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)

The NPT is the corner-stone of the international nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regime. The NPT Review Conference in May 2010 was a key moment for the global debate around nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, and the agreement at its conclusion sets the framework for international negotiations over the period 2010 to 2015.
 

• Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) 

The Obama Administration is committed to submitting the CTBT to the Senate for ratification, but support there is uncertain (it requires the support of 67 Senators). This is crucial to several other key states’ ratification, and necessary for the Treaty to come into force.

• Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty (FMCT)

States have shown little progress on agreeing to a text that would obligate them to stop producing bomb-grade nuclear fuel. The chosen venue for this dialogue has been the Conference on Disarmament (CD) in Geneva, but some leaders have been calling for moving negotiations out of the CD in an attempt to revitalize the process.

BASIC Board Member Amb. James Goodby
From START to START
Click here to watch interview with NPT TV on Vimeo

*Opinions expressed in document pages above do not necessarily represent those of BASIC.