The State of Nuclear Arms Control

In the heat of the cold war between the United States and the Soviet Union, a discovery from a soon to be acclaimed physicist would forever change the threat of nuclear war. In 1952, Professor Richard Garwin would famously design the first ever hydrogen bomb - code named "Ivy Mike." That development would lead to a process in which countries around the globe raced towards arming themselves with the latest and most updated nuclear weapons of the time.

Professor Garwin on the other hand would go in a different direction. Since designing the hydrogen bomb, Garwin has become a leading activist in nonproliferation and nuclear arms control.

His advancements in the scientific community have earned him numerous accolades. Among them was being awarded the 2016 Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Obama in November. The award highlighted a number of his accomplishments, including contributions to defense technologies and gravitational wave theory.

Professor Garwin is still a vocal opponent of nuclear expansion and he joins us today to talk about his support of the Iran nuclear agreement and to spotlight the successes of past nuclear cooperation among countries to ensure it continues into the present and future.