Latest developments
The United States voted against the UN General Assembly resolutions on the TPNW in 2018, 2019, and 2020. In October 2020, the United States called on states that had ratified the TPNW to withdraw from the Treaty. The government's opposition to the TPNW is unlikely to change with the transition from the Trump administration to the Biden administration in January 2021, though it is expected that the US will rejoin and renew previous arms control agreements and consider limits on nuclear weapons use and the development of new weapons. Support, primarily through the Back from the Brink campaign, for the ICAN Cities Appeal continues to build in the US, numbering 36 cities and towns and three state governments in December 2020. Opinion varies considerably from region to region in the US, but 49% of Americans now support nuclear weapons abolition. New York City continues to consider divesting from nuclear weapons makers, which, if successful, would be the largest city in the world to do so. See: bit.ly/3lswFgm, bit.ly/3qqUTKO.
Recommendations
- The United States should acknowledge that nuclear deterrence is not a sustainable solution for its own or international security, and that any perceived benefits are far outweighed by the risk of nuclear accidents or war. It should move rapidly to reduce and eliminate its nuclear arsenal.
- The United States should urgently sign and ratify the TPNW, and encourage other states to adhere to the Treaty. Until it is in a position to do so, it should welcome the TPNW as a valuable contribution to the global disarmament and non-proliferation architecture, attend its meetings of states parties as an observer, and work with its states parties on practical steps towards disarmament.
- The United States should implement in good faith its obligations under Article VI of the NPT. The United States should conclude and bring into force a full Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement (CSA) and Additional Protocol (AP) with the IAEA. It should extend New START, rejoin Open Skies Treaty, and return to compliance with the JCPOA. The United States should also ratify the CTBT.
