One of the biggest challenges facing our world is the erosion of global security in a nuclear-armed world. The world’s combined stockpile of nuclear warheads remains at a high and frightening level – more than 24,000 – despite being two decades removed from the end of the Cold War. And the amount of weapons-usable nuclear materials could power tens of thousands of additional weapons. Thus, the risk of states or terrorists using nuclear weapons is too great.

Despite President Obama’s appeal to move toward a world free of nuclear weapons, leaders of nuclear-armed nations still find utility in possessing these weapons. Before the world can achieve nuclear disarmament, the international community needs to focus on ensuring adequate security for all nations.

Although this task is very challenging, we should embrace it. The path forward is to pursue nuclear disarmament while working toward resolving insecurities that drive certain countries to want nuclear weapons. Consequently, nuclear arms control is linked with conventional arms control. Conventional force imbalances have driven several states to want nuclear weapons as force equalizers.

To reduce substantially the likelihood of nuclear weapons use, nuclear-armed states and states with weapons-usable materials can and must take the following actions:

Declare that actual use of nuclear weapons will jeopardize everyone’s security.

Pledge that nuclear weapons are only useful for deterring others’ nuclear weapons, thereby leading to the logic that no nation will need to cling to these weapons forever.

Enter into force rapidly the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty—that would ban all nuclear explosive tests worldwide.

Enact further nuclear arms control treaties between Russia and the United States that demonstrably improve both nations security and bring other nuclear-armed states into multilateral arms control as soon as possible.

Convert as quickly as possible excess fissile material from dismantled nuclear weapons into non-weapons usable forms.

Ban the use of highly enriched uranium—a material that a relatively technically sophisticated terrorist group could make into a crude nuclear explosive—in civilian activities.

Minimize the stockpiles of commercial plutonium slated for reactor fuel.

Develop, share, and implement best security practices for any remaining nuclear weapons and weapons-usable nuclear materials.

Bring scientists together to work on solving the technical challenges in verifying nuclear disarmament.

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