A man at a podium with a new report at an ACA event

Grantee Spotlight: The Arms Control Association

The Arms Control Association maintains a strong reputation as a credible and highly connected “think-and-do” tank in the nuclear policy arena.

Ploughshares Fund counts the Arms Control Association (ACA) among our most trusted and effective partners. The organization plays a leadership role in Ploughshares Fund’s current policy campaigns and helps lay the groundwork for its longer-term goals though analy­sis, media outreach, and policymaker engagement. Journalists and policymakers look to ACA for information and perspective, and the organization offers critical leadership to the nuclear and international security community.

ACA staff continue to do important, notable work:

  • Executive Director Daryl Kimball recently led ACA’s efforts to extend New START, including outreach to US and international policymakers and en­gagement with 100 congressional offices. He also established an inter-organi­zational campaign to build congressional support for the two bipartisan New START extension bills introduced in 2019 and media outreach on the issue.
  • Kelsey Davenport was recently the key nonproliferation expert sought out by policymakers and journalists, working with ACA staff to provide analysis in response to questions on the threat posed by Iran and North Korea’s nuclear programs to more than 60 congressional offices.
  • In part through ACA’s Bipartisan Nuclear Policy Dialogue project, Kingston Reif recently provided analysis and briefings to Hill staff on the risks of and alternatives to hypersonic weapons, the future of the ICBM force, and the budget for these programs.

Outside of its congressional education efforts with more than a hundred of­fices on the Hill, ACA’s media engagement and outreach generates hundreds of media hits, citations, and op-eds a year across policy priority areas. ACA is currently conducting research, public education, media outreach, policy advocacy, and congressional engagement to:

  • Push for the United States to adopt a no first use policy and move away from hair-trigger alert.
  • Cancel new weapons and programs, such as the new ICBM.
  • Build support and address concrete concerns for bringing the United States back into compliance with the JCPOA.
  • Encourage smart diplomacy with North Korea.

ACA is convening regular expert briefings on all of these key priorities, and producing credible in-depth analytical reports, timely issue briefs, and Arms Control Today news reporting and feature articles. Its analysis is regularly taken up in the media, US government, and international partners, and the organization conducts critical executive branch and congressional outreach. Since its founding 40 years ago, Ploughshares Fund is proud to have supported this well-regarded, central leader in the nuclear policy community.

Daryl Kimball, Executive Director, Arms Control Association at their Annual Meeting, April 15, 2019 at the Washington Court Hotel in Washington, DC. Allen Harris/Arms Control Association