Senior Policy Director John Erath wrote a short reflection on the June 16 Biden-Putin Summit for the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. “The June 16 Geneva Summit produced little mention of arms control, and that is probably a positive sign. Arms control agreements, at least good ones, do not appear overnight. They are products of […]
Process as a product: What can we expect from the Biden-Putin Summit?
By John Erath Oscar Wilde wrote that “to expect the unexpected shows a thoroughly modern intellect.” At the risk of being considered anti-intellectual, or possibly anti-modern, I believe it would be best to approach the June 16 Geneva Summit with limited expectations for a breakthrough on arms control. This, however, is by no means a bad result. Eagerness for quick fixes could […]
World Nuclear Inventories
Updated June 2025 There are nine nuclear-armed countries worldwide with about 12,000 nuclear weapons between them. The United States and Russia together have more than 90 percent of those weapons.
MEMO: Advice to President Biden on Arms Control With Russia
By John Erath It was announced this week that President Joe Biden will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on June 16 in Geneva. As one who focuses on non-proliferation and arms control for a living, I hope these issues will feature prominently on the agenda. And, as one who spent many years preparing policy makers […]
Op-ed: Missile Defense is Not a Substitute for Arms Control
Executive Director John Tierney and Research Analyst Samuel Hickey co-authored an op-ed in War On the Rocks arguing that bringing up missile defense in strategic stability talks with Russia is a point of leverage for the United States, not the other way around. “President Ronald Reagan had a dream of an impregnable shield that could swat away […]
