- April 29, 1997
- The Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) enters into force.
- September 24, 1996
- The Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) is opened for signature.
U.S. President Bill Clinton is the first head of state to sign, followed
by the other four declared nuclear powers and a host of non-nuclear
states.
- June 28, 1996
- The United States and other nations attending the United Nations
Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, Switzerland, complete a draft
Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.
- October 23, 1994
- The United States and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea
(DPRK) sign an "Agreed Framework" to freeze the North Korean nuclear
program and halt the DPRK's withdrawal from the Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty.
- January 14, 1994
- The United States, Russia, and Ukraine sign the Trilateral
Statement, providing for the transfer of strategic nuclear warheads on
Ukrainian territory back to Russia. The transfer is completed by June
1996.
- January 13, 1993
- The United States signs the Chemical Weapons Convention. The
convention requires ratification by 65 nations before it enters into
force. As of early November 1997, 165 nations had signed the CWC and 104
had ratified it.
- January 3, 1993
- The United States and Russia sign the Strategic Arms Reduction
Treaty (the START II Treaty). The treaty has been ratified by the U.S.
Senate and, as of November 1997, awaits Russian ratification.
- November 27, 1991
- The U.S. Congress passes the Nunn-Lugar legislation to help the
Soviet Union destroy nuclear, chemical, and other weapons.
- September 27, 1991
- The United States announces the unilateral withdrawal from overseas
bases and operational deployment of all land- and sea-based tactical
nuclear weapons.
- July 31, 1991
- The United States and the Soviet Union sign the START I Treaty. The
treaty enters into force on December 5, 1994.
- November 19, 1990
- The United States and 21 other North Atlantic Treaty Organization
and Warsaw Pact nations sign the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe
Treaty, reducing five categories of conventional weapons to equal levels
for each alliance grouping. The treaty enters into force on July 17,
1992, and its reductions are completed November 17, 1995.
- December 8, 1987
- The United States and the Soviet Union sign the Intermediate- Range
Nuclear Forces Treaty to eliminate all ground-launched ballistic and
cruise missiles with ranges between 500 and 5,500 kilometers. The treaty
enters into force June 1, 1988, and is fully implemented June 1, 1991.
- June 18, 1979
- The United States and the Soviet Union sign the Strategic Arms
Limitations Treaty (the SALT II Treaty) in Vienna. The treaty is never
ratified.
- August 1, 1975
- The United States, the Soviet Union, and 33 other nations in the
Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe sign the Helsinki Final
Act. The document initiates a series of agreements on confidence- and
security-building measures in Europe.
- May 26, 1972
- The United States and the Soviet Union sign the Anti-Ballistic
Missile Treaty, limiting strategic anti-ballistic missile defenses, and
the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT I) Interim Agreement,
providing an interim ceiling on strategic offensive nuclear weapons.
- April 10, 1972
- The United States signs the Biological Weapons Convention.
- November 25, 1969
- The United States renounces the first use of chemical weapons and
all methods of biological warfare.
- July 1, 1968
- The United States and 61 other nations sign the Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty. It enters into force on March 5, 1970, and is
extended indefinitely and unconditionally on May 11, 1995.
- August 5, 1963
- The United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union sign the Limited
Test Ban Treaty.
- December 1, 1959
- The United States, the Soviet Union, and other countries sign the
Antarctic Treaty to internationalize and demilitarize the Antarctic
continent. It is the first nuclear-weapon-free-zone agreement.
- July 21, 1955
- The United States presents an "Open Skies" proposal that leads to a
formal treaty in 1992.
- December 8, 1952
- The United States presents an "Atoms for Peace" plan that leads to
the creation of the International Atomic Energy Agency in 1957.
- June 14, 1946
- The United States presents the Baruch Plan for the international
control of atomic weapons.
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