Angela Kane’s Response to Lewis Dunn’s Proposal of “Strategic Elimination”

08 May 2018

Volume 24 of The Nonproliferation Review, published in May 2018, included an essay by Dr. Lewis Dunn entitled "The strategic elimination of nuclear weapons: an alternative global agenda for nuclear disarmament". Among the responses to Dr. Dunn's essay were remarks by VCDNP Senior Fellow Angela Kane.

“Over the last eight years, we have witnessed a sea change in the global nuclear landscape. New thinking is required as we approach the NPT’s fiftieth anniversary in 2020, with the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons likely having entered into force by then.

Lew Dunn sets out a vision of the strategic elimination of nuclear weapons “as a means of statecraft and security”—rather than their elimination—by 2045. While I would be more ambitious about the timeline, I find the proposal interesting as it skirts the question of total abolition of nuclear weapons held by both nuclear-weapon states and nuclear weapon possessors. While not acceptable as an alternative to disarmament and eventual nuclear-weapons abolition, the proposal could be used to start a constructive dialogue about what global security means in our time. Such a discussion would also bring a wider lens to the issue, by diluting the focus on the United States that has shown to be polarizing in the international community, especially during the Trump presidency. If this were to happen, Dunn’s paper would have indeed provided an important service.”

Ms. Kane's full response to Dr. Dunn's essay is available here.