​​Civil Society Leaders Call to Halt, Reverse Arms Race

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Over the decades, civil society organizations around the globe have successfully pushed governments to take steps to reduce the nuclear danger, agree to cut the number of nuclear weapons, halt and then ban nuclear explosive testing, curb the spread of nuclear weapons, and to conclude the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

“But today, 80 years since the world’s first nuclear test detonation in New Mexico, nuclear risks are growing once again,” warned Daryl G. Kimball of the Arms Control Association.

“Human civilization remains precariously tethered to the existence of thousands of nuclear weapons and the threat they might be used again. Progress on nuclear disarmament is stalled and an unconstrained global nuclear arms race is on the horizon,” he said.

The last remaining bilateral U.S.-Russian nuclear arms reduction agreement, New START, will expire on Feb. 6, 2026. That’s just 204 days away.

At that point, the United States and Russia could increase the size of their deployed long-range weapons for the first time in more than 35 years.

“Despite President Trump’s recent talk about the soaring costs of nuclear weapons, their devastating effects, and his desire for “denuclearization” talks with Russia and China, nuclear spending is skyrocketing and there are no active bilateral arms reduction talks underway. This must change. And soon,” Kimball charged. “The mounting danger demands more than empty words, it demands action.”

In response, the leaders of more than two dozen regional, national and international civil society organizations; former government officials and advisers; leading academicians and experts; and concerned cultural figures have joined together to launch a short, focused appeal designed to provide a common rallying call for urgent action to halt and reverse the new arms race and step back from the brink of nuclear war.

This “New Call to Halt and Reverse the Nuclear Arms Race” encourages organized opposition in the United States and other countries to the deployment of more nuclear weapons by any state, to the use or threat of use of these weapons, and opposition to the possible renewal of nuclear explosive testing as key steps toward their eventual elimination. It urges support for nuclear disarmament diplomacy.

The “call” is posted on a dedicated web site, ReverseTheArmsRace.org, that lists endorsers and is designed to serve as a connection point for citizen engagement and action.

“We need all countries to step up. But the two largest nuclear-weapon states must lead the way. Absent meaningful diplomacy that produces some kind of new U.S.-Russian nuclear restraints, the pace of the nuclear arms race will very likely accelerate, and the costs and dangers will grow even further,” Kimball said.