While the goal of merely shoring up the existing non-proliferation and disarmament regime may seem to lack ambition, the current international situation is, regrettably, the least conducive to pursuing radical nuclear disarmament initiatives since the end of the Cold War. Certainly, the danger of a nuclear holocaust, whether intentional, inadvertent or accidental, continues to pose an existential threat to humanity and the planet, now joined by global warming, that should be tackled urgently. Yet various fissures in the bedrock of international peace and security, not least the Russian invasion of Ukraine (including veiled nuclear threats by Russia and Belarus), the continuing nuclear aspirations of Iran and North Korea, the relentless qualitative and quantitative advances in the nuclear weapon arsenals of virtually all possessor states, and the faltering U.S.-Russian nuclear arms limitation regime, bode badly for achieving a nuclear-weapon-free world anytime soon.
Congress therefore should not treat the Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission's report as a "take it or leave it" proposition. It needs to discriminate between the various recommendations on thebasis of their individual contributions to the cause of nuclearnonproliferation.
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