The UN makes history on a nuclear weapons ban. Does the US care?, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, JOE CIRINCIONE 2 NOVEMBER 2016 Joe Cirincione is president of Ploughshares Fund, a global security foundation.It was a historic moment. Despite dozens of nuclear crises and war scares, UN members have never in the 71-year history of the body voted for such a sweeping measure. Yet no major US paper covered the vote. Why not?……
The United States, however, adamantly opposed the resolution and, according to some observers, fiercely lobbied its allies, particularly those enclosed in the US “nuclear umbrella,” to vote against the new process. ….
There is hope for a more optimistic and safer view of nuclear threats to re-emerge. The treaty vote is one sign that many nations have lost patience with the barely discernable, “step-by-step” process that nuclear-armed nations have followed in regard to arms control and eventual nuclear disarmament. The alternative process the countries voting for the ban treaty have begun–encouraged and aided by civil society groups–is having an impact, and may spur the nuclear-armed states to move faster……..http://thebulletin.org/un-makes-history-nuclear-weapons-ban-does-us-care10123
