Statement of the Stimson Center at the December 15 Debate on the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction

For millions, these advances have made the world a far more hospitable place. In the past 12 years, Governments and non-governmental actors alike have conspired to help cut the world’s extreme poverty rate in half. More girls are in school, fewer children are dying as a result of preventable illness, and the world continues to make advances against the scourge of global diseases like malaria and HIV/AIDS. Further, despite the horrific and headline-grabbing conflicts of today, the inexorable arc of conflict and violence is bending, however gradually, toward peace.