In a his June 3 article for Embassy Anthony Salloum discusses what he terms “the renaissance of nuclear disarmament” that has been developing over the past few years, culminating with President Barack Obama’s April 5 speech in Prague in which he said,

“So today, I state clearly and with conviction America’s commitment to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons.”

Obama’s nuclear position includes his stated commitment to ratifying the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) a marked shift in previous US nuclear policy. However, as Anthony Salloum notes, President Obama is not the only one becoming involved in the move toward abolishing nuclear weapons. Canadians Lloyd Axworthy, Roméo Dallaire and Douglas Roche have all emerged as significant voices in the demand for global nuclear disarmament, as have former U.S. senator Sam Nunn, former secretaries of state Henry Kissinger and George Schultz, and former secretary of defense William Perry.

A new declaration called Global Zero, which calls for “a world without nuclear weapons”, includes signatories such as Jimmy Carter, Mikhail Gorbachev, Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan and Desmond Tutu.

Global support for nuclear disarmament appears to be reaching new levels, and with negotiations underway between two major nuclear powers, the U.S. and Russia, for a new strategic arms reduction treaty the groups and individuals involved in the global anti-nuclear movement appear to be increasingly optimistic about potential results. In his conclusion Salloum states that “…in politics timing is everything.

And the time is right.

With President Obama setting the scene for significant reductions in nuclear weapons, and current and former political leaders getting on the disarmament bandwagon, we have a fantastic opportunity on our hands.”