We can look to history for some inspiration on how to confront this danger we all share.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
In 1963 the United States, the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom signed the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. The treaty signing ceremony came one day before the 18th anniversary of the Hiroshima atomic bomb.
President John F. Kennedy made the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty a priority because just months before the world was almost plunged into darkness. The United States and Soviet Union came to the brink of nuclear war during the October, 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. The Soviets placed missiles in Cuba and during those tense days both the U.S. and Soviets were test exploding nukes. Diplomacy fortunately prevailed and the Soviets removed the missiles.
The Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty was a dramatic turnaround from this nuclear standoff just months prior. The treaty offered a little ray of hope for peace. Diplomacy was better than going to the brink.
Today we need more diplomacy as the United States, Russia and China are modernizing their nuclear arsenals. Progress on nuclear arms control and disarmament is stalled. The U.S. and Russian New START Treaty, which limits nukes, expires early next year.
“If New START expires with no successor arrangement, Washington and Moscow could, in theory, increase their arsenals beyond New START limits, by uploading more warheads on existing long-range missiles” warns the Arms Control Association.
What the world needs is some hope and diplomatic momentum for controlling nuclear weapons. A quick, easy step would be for the United States, Russia and China to ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). This treaty goes one step further than the pact achieved by President Kennedy. The CTBT bans all nuclear test explosions, including underground blasts.
But this treaty has languished because the U.S. and other holdout nations have failed to ratify. Without U.S. leadership on the treaty it’s never going to take effect. The U.S. Senate would have to approve the treaty and the President would have to sign it.
The U.S., Russia and China ratifying the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty would create a better atmosphere for disarmament talks. It would be a confidence building measure to obtaining more agreements. Any step that could encourage diplomacy would be a welcome sign as negotiations are desperately needed for nuclear disarmament and ending the war in Ukraine.
The United States has not tested a nuke for decades and has no need to do so. Uniting the world to the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty would be in the best interests of all nations. The United States should lead the way in getting all holdout nations, including nuke powers India and Pakistan, to ratify. The activist group Back from the Brink encourages citizens to contact their elected officials about supporting the CTBT and other treaties.
As President Kennedy said about the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, it was “a step towards peace -- a step towards reason -- a step away from war.” Finishing the job today by getting a Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty can be another step toward peace. This treaty can help revive the diplomacy we need to end the threat of nuclear weapons.
William Lambers, based in Cincinnati, is the author of Nuclear Weapons and The Road to Peace. He partnered with the UN World Food Program on the book Ending World Hunger.