The new administration in Washington has taken office firmly committed to the concept of a national missile defense system, arguing that future U.S. security needs take precedence over arms-control agreements rooted in Cold War history. Its views on the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, an agreement signed in the late 1990s with the goal of confining nuclear testing to history, are less clear-cut. If friends and allies concede on NMD in principle, they might well be able to shape the final form of NMD and persuade Washington to accept the CTBT in return.
The CTBT was opposed by India when negotiated and dealt a near-fatal blow when it was rejected in a 51-48 vote by the U.S. Senate in October 1999. Yet the treaty is in the interests of both these nations, as well as the entire family of nations. It would make the world safer while enhancing Indian and U.S. security, but only if rescued from the caldron of domestic politics in both countries.
The CTBT has given us a unique opportunity to end nuclear testing definitively. Its commitments and compromises reflect the best attainable balance of different national interests. Signed by 160 countries and ratified by around 70, it would stop testing, end the arms race, prevent proliferation and mark a milestone on the road to disarmament.