# Arms control: caging the weapons

The attempts to limit war by treaty: The Hague, Geneva, the naval treaties, and the long nuclear bargain.

*This story part of: Military and security*
*Making peace: the great settlements led to this story*

## 6 February 1922 — Washington Naval Treaty

Treaty among the five leading naval powers limiting battleship tonnage in a 5:5:3 ratio for Britain, the United States, and Japan. It was the first major modern arms limitation agreement.

## 17 June 1925 — Geneva Protocol

Protocol prohibiting the use of chemical and biological weapons in war, drawn up after the gas warfare of the First World War. It banned use but not production or stockpiling.

## 5 August 1963 — Partial Test Ban Treaty

Treaty among the United States, Soviet Union, and Britain banning nuclear tests in the atmosphere, underwater, and in space. It was the first major nuclear arms control agreement of the Cold War.

## 1 July 1968 — Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons

international treaty limiting the spread of nuclear weapons (1968)

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## 10 April 1972 — Biological Weapons Convention

Convention banning the development, production, and stockpiling of biological and toxin weapons. It was the first treaty to outlaw an entire class of weapons of mass destruction.

## 26 May 1972 — Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty

US-Soviet treaty signed alongside SALT I, strictly limiting missile defense systems to preserve mutual deterrence. The United States withdrew from it in 2002.

## 8 December 1987 — Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty

US-Soviet treaty eliminating an entire class of ground-launched missiles with ranges of 500 to 5,500 kilometers. It was the first treaty to abolish, not just limit, nuclear delivery systems; the US withdrew in 2019.

## 31 July 1991 — START I

US-Soviet treaty requiring deep verified cuts in deployed strategic nuclear warheads and delivery vehicles. It was the largest arms reduction agreement in history at the time.

## 13 January 1993 — Chemical Weapons Convention

Convention banning the development, production, stockpiling, and use of chemical weapons and requiring destruction of existing stocks under international verification. Nearly all states have joined.

## 5 December 1994 — Budapest Memorandum

Memorandum in which Russia, the United States, and Britain gave security assurances to Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan in exchange for giving up Soviet nuclear weapons. Russia's later invasions of Ukraine broke its commitments.

## 24 September 1996 — Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty

Treaty banning all nuclear explosions in all environments, with a global monitoring system. It has not entered into force because key states have not ratified, but a de facto testing moratorium largely holds.

## 3 December 1997 — Ottawa Treaty

Convention banning anti-personnel landmines, driven by a civil society campaign that won the Nobel Peace Prize. Most states have joined, though major powers remain outside.

## 8 April 2010 — New START

US-Russia treaty limiting each side to 1,550 deployed strategic warheads with verification and data exchanges. It is the last remaining bilateral nuclear arms control treaty between the two powers.

## 14 July 2015 — Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action

Agreement between Iran and six world powers limiting Iran's nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. The United States withdrew in 2018 and the deal has since unraveled.

## 7 July 2017 — Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons

First treaty comprehensively banning nuclear weapons, adopted by 122 states at the United Nations. The nuclear-armed states and most of their allies have not joined.