Arms Control, Disarmament and Non-Proliferation

2020

• NATO Secretary General stresses importance of nuclear disarmament (10 November 2020)

2019

• NATO Secretary General addresses arms control conference (23 October 2019)
• NATO diplomats and experts meet in Riga to discuss NATO’s nuclear deterrence (5 September 2019)
• Secretary General: NATO response to INF Treaty demise will be measured and responsible (2 August 2019)
• NATO Defence Ministers meet to address Russia’s violation of the INF Treaty (13 February 2019)

2018

• NATO Foreign Ministers agree Russia is in violation of INF Treaty (4 December 2018)
• NATO arms control experts discuss Weapons of Mass Destruction, disarmament and non-proliferation (29 October 2018)
• NATO Allies host Russian arms control inspectors (13 March 2018)

2017

• NATO Allies brief Russian arms control inspectors (9 November 2017)
• Finland hosts annual NATO conference on proliferation challenges (30 May 2017)
• NATO and Partners to discuss Weapons of Mass Destruction Non-proliferation and Arms Control in Helsinki (17 May 2017)
• Deputy Secretary General discusses arms control in Vienna (9 May 2017)
• NATO welcomes 20th anniversary of Chemical Weapons Convention (2 May 2017)
• Strengthening NATO-EU-OSCE security dialogue on arms control (22 February 2017)

2016

• Deputy Secretary General calls for efforts to strengthen non-proliferation regime (9 May 2016)

2015

• Fighting weapons of terror (4 September 2015)
• Preventing WMD proliferation: NATO's engagement with its global partners : Speech by NATO Deputy Secretary General Alexander Vershbow during the last annual NATO conference on WMD arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation - Doha, Qatar, on 2 March 2015

2014

• Statement by the Secretary General on the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty (30 July 2014)
• NATO and partners debate non-proliferation and disarmament in Switzerland  (1 July 2014)

2013

• NATO-Russia Council Statement of Support for the OPCW-UN Joint Mission (4 December 2013)
• OPCW briefs NATO Russia-Council on the elimination of chemical weapons in Syria (20 November 2013)

2012

• Non-proliferation, arms control and disarmament – the focus of first big meeting with Partners after Chicago (14 June 2012)
• Countering WMD threats in the maritime environment. 2012 International Partners' Outreach Event (26 April 2012)

2010

• WMD Proliferation the Focus of Annual NATO Conference (10 December 2009 - 11 December 2010)

"For almost 70 years, NATO has been committed to preserving peace in Europe and to controlling the proliferation and number of nuclear weapons. Even before NATO established its first nuclear weapons policy in 1954, the North Atlantic Council in 1953 endorsed the US efforts to “seek a solution to the problem of atomic armaments.” (NATO Deputy Secretary General Rose Gottemoeller: ''NATO’s enduring commitment to the Non-Proliferation Treaty'', 5 May 2017)

Within NATO, there are a number of forums in which discussions on arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation take place (Source: 2016 Secretary General's Annual Report):

- the High-Level Task Force on Conventional Arms Control sets arms control policy;

- the Committee on Proliferation meets in political-military and defence formats to discuss WMD non-proliferation efforts and defence against chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) threats;

- the Special Advisory and Consultative Arms Control, Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Committee  is a forum for discussion of strategic stability and nuclear transparency. NATO allies agreed to establish such committee at the Chicago Summit in 2012, where the NATO Deterrence and Defence Posture Review (DDPR) was agreed.

NATO’s work in relation to arms control and non-proliferation is supported by a number of NATO-accredited national entities. The Joint CBRN Defence Centre of Excellence in Vyškovin the Czech Republic, created in 2006, is one of them. (Source: 2016 Secretary General's Annual Report).

A selection of early NATO's milestones:

• In 1957, NATO adopted the strategic doctrine of "Massive Retaliation” (MC 14/2: "Overall strategic concept for the defense of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization area") – if the Soviet Union attacked, NATO would respond with nuclear weapons.(Source: NATO Declassified - A Short History of NATO)
• The Harmel Report of 1967 ("Report of the Council on the Future Tasks of the Alliance") formed the basis for NATO's security policy. The report delivered in December 1967 to the North Atlantic Council by Belgian Foreign Minister Pierre Harmel, recommended that NATO should have a political track promoting dialogue and détente between NATO and Warsaw Pact countries. (Source: NATO Declassified - A Short History of NATO)
• An overview on the following period: Détente and Arms Control, 1969–1979 (Office of the Historian, US Department of State)
• In May 1989, NATO adopted a Comprehensive Concept of Arms Control and Disarmament, which allowed the Alliance to move forward in the sphere of arms control.

"A State concludes a disarmament treaty and reduces or regulates its armament on the premise that other States would do the same. Thus, the basis of a disarmament treaty can be described as reciprocity." (Source: "Suspension of Certain Obligations of the CFE Treaty by NATO Allies: Examination of the Response to the 2007 Unilateral Treaty Suspension by Russia" by M. Hayashi, in Journal of Conflict and Security Law, vol. 18, no. 1, April 2013).

• The first arms control agreement of the Cold War: the Limited Test Ban Treaty of 1963. (Source: US Department of State)
• The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) was signed in 1968 and entered into force on 5 March 1970. "The Treaty of the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT): An Overview", by the Center for Nonproliferation Studies (12 August 2010). See also The Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty Has Largely Achieved Its Goals, an interview with retired Ambassador Roland Timerbaev, published by the Arms Control Association (September 2017)
• SALT I, the first series of Strategic Arms Limitation Talks, between the United States and the Soviet Union, extended from November 1969 to May 1972 (Source: US Department of State). "Negotiations for a second round of SALT began in late 1972. [...] On June 17, 1979, Carter and Brezhnev signed the SALT II Treaty in Vienna". (Source: US Department of State - Office of the Historian). SALT II never entered into force because of the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan (24 December 1979). 
• The Treaty Between The United States Of America And The Union Of Soviet Socialist Republics On The Elimination Of Their Intermediate-Range And Shorter-Range Missiles (INF Treaty). Signed 8 December 1987. "The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty at a Glance" by D. Kimball and K. Reif (October 2016).
• The Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE), Signed: 19 November 1990 (Nuclear Threat Initiative website). On 19 November 1999, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) published the Agreement on Adaptation of the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe. On 14 July 2007, Russia announced that it would suspend implementation of its Treaty obligations, effective after 150 days. "The Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty and the Adapted CFE Treaty at a Glance" by Tom Z. Collina (Arms Control Association), 4 October 2010.
• The Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START I) was signed on 31 July 1991 by U.S. President George H.W. Bush and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev. An overview of this Strategic Offensive Reductions (START I) is published on the Nuclear Threat Initiative web site (2011). The START II Treaty, signed on 3 January 1993 never entered into force. See also the US Department of State - Office of The Historian portal: Strategic Arms Limitations Talks/Treaty (SALT) I and II.
• On 10 September 1996, the UN General Assembly adopted the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. The Congressional Research Service published on 1 September 2016 a backgrounder document: "Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty: Background and Current Developments". The special edition of The Nonproliferation Review, dedicated to the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) - vol. 23, issue 3-4, 2016 includes contributions from prominent scholars and officials including Rose Gottemoeller, Cristian Istrate, Togzhan Kassenova and Tibor Tóth.
• New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START), signed in Prague on 8 April 2010. "Nuclear Arms Control in 2013": a presentation by Steven Pifer, that "outlines the New START Treaty, possible next steps on strategic forces, non-strategic nuclear weapons and missile defense issues" (Brookings, July 2013).
• The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons adopted on 7 July 2017 (UN Document A/CONF.229/2017/8). NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, "citing the “current security environment,” said NATO countries had no choice but to maintain their nuclear arsenal." (Source: Politico, 6 Oct 2017).

See also:

• On 13 April 2016, the U.S. Congressional Research Service updated its regular report: "Arms Control and Nonproliferation: A Catalog of Treaties and Agreements".
• The International Non-Proliferation & Disarmament Regime - Key treaties, resolutions, and bodies (A briefing by BASIC), April 2015
• The Disarmament Treaties Database produced by United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA)
• The Arms Control Agreements page (Federation of American Scientists - last update 22 August 2011).