Nuclear Arms Control: When Will the Lost Chance Be the Last Chance?

“Baker Shot”, part of Operation Crossroads nuclear test by the United States at Bikini Atoll in 1946. Public Domain.

In the eighty years since of the atomic bombings of Japan dozens of opportunities to halt the macabre march of nuclear weapons development have been wasted. Starting with the mistaken U.S. decision to drop the first fission bombs on targets of “no military value”, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the allure of guaranteeing “national security” through nuclear arms has thwarted many arms control initiatives.