Arms Control Today

Arms Control Today
Title	Arms Control Today
Category	International security, arms control, nonproliferation
Frequency	Monthly
Firstdate	1970
Country	United States
Language	English

Contents

Arms Control Today is a monthly publication produced to analyze international security, arms control, nonproliferation, and disarmament issues, linking policy debates involving the United States Department of State, United Nations, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, International Atomic Energy Agency, and key capitals such as Washington, D.C., Moscow, Beijing, and Geneva. The magazine provides reporting, expert commentary, and technical analysis that engage readers across the communities of the Arms Control Association, think tanks like the Brookings Institution and Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, scholarly networks in Harvard University and Johns Hopkins University, and practitioners in the Department of Defense and European Union institutions.

Overview

Arms Control Today presents news, feature articles, and research briefs about arms control frameworks including the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, the Chemical Weapons Convention, the Biological Weapons Convention, and regional agreements such as the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe and the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, while covering crises involving states like Iran, North Korea, Russia, China, and Syria, and nonstate actors such as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, Al-Qaeda, and transnational networks tied to proliferation. Contributors often include analysts associated with institutions like the Center for Strategic and International Studies, RAND Corporation, Stimson Center, King's College London, and the Federation of American Scientists, and the magazine interfaces with policymaking arenas such as the United Nations Security Council, the Nuclear Suppliers Group, and the Proliferation Security Initiative.

Founded in 1970 amid strategic debates following events like the Vietnam War, the magazine emerged in a period shaped by negotiations including the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks and the SALT I accords, and later chronicled developments through the Soviet–Afghan War, the Cold War détente and its end marked by the Dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, and post‑Cold War shifts such as the Iraq War and the 9/11 attacks. Over decades the publication has documented landmark efforts including the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty negotiations, the New START Treaty discussions, the Chemical Weapons Convention implementation in Syria, and the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on Iran, while engaging experts from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Princeton University, Columbia University, and international agencies like the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

Coverage emphasizes the technical and political dimensions of treaties and regimes: verification protocols of the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization; monitoring mechanisms under the Chemical Weapons Convention and the Biological Weapons Convention; export controls under the Wassenaar Arrangement and the Missile Technology Control Regime; arms transfer oversight via the Arms Trade Treaty and confidence-building measures like those in the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe and the Open Skies Treaty. The magazine analyzes strategic doctrines tied to nuclear postures such as doctrines articulated by NATO, Russian Federation Armed Forces, and the People's Liberation Army, and assesses proliferation dynamics involving programs in Iran, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and clandestine networks exposed in cases linked to A.Q. Khan.

Regular contributors and interlocutors include policymakers from the United States Department of Energy, multilateral officials from the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs, inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency, legal scholars from the International Court of Justice, nongovernmental organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, and research centers like the Arms Control Association itself, the Henry L. Stimson Center, and university programs at Georgetown University and University of Cambridge. The magazine serves audiences across parliaments and legislatures in bodies such as the United States Congress, the European Parliament, and the Russian State Duma, and engages industry stakeholders represented by firms tied to aerospace and defense sectors in United States, France, Germany, and Russia.

Regional reporting addresses proliferation and arms control challenges in theaters such as the Middle East (including Israel, Iran, and Saudi Arabia), the Korean Peninsula (involving North Korea and Republic of Korea), South Asia (involving India and Pakistan), Europe (including Ukraine and Belarus), East Asia (China, Japan, and Taiwan), Africa (covering conflict zones like Libya and Somalia), and Latin America (including Brazil and Venezuela). Articles examine country-level policy shifts such as nuclear doctrine reviews by the Russian Federation, modernization programs in the United States Armed Forces, missile developments in the People's Republic of China, and export control reforms in India.

Contemporary coverage spotlights emerging challenges including hypersonic weaponry development by Russia and China, cyber operations affecting nuclear command-and-control discussed by NATO and Department of Defense officials, concerns about biotechnology misuse under the Biological Weapons Convention, erosion of arms control architecture after withdrawals from treaties like the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, and diplomatic efforts surrounding the Iran nuclear deal and New START extension negotiations. The magazine continues to track verification innovations by entities such as the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization and the International Atomic Energy Agency, sanctions and nonproliferation measures undertaken by the United Nations Security Council, and transnational responses involving European Union diplomacy, multilateral forums such as the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference, and advocacy from civil society organizations.

Category:International security periodicals