PARTNERING

Weapons of mass destruction are not just a concern of the United States – it is a concern for most other nations on the planet. Most countries neither want to possess nor use WMD. But we still have adversaries – rogue states and state-less terrorists – that are working to create, steal, sell or buy weapons of mass destruction. The United States partners with nations across the planet to share knowledge, educate, train and work with like-minded countries in combating weapons of mass destruction.

The Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Program, created at the end of the Cold War, started working with newly independent countries of the former Soviet Union to dismantle a massive WMD industry that had flourished after World War II. We helped three new nuclear powers completely eliminate their stockpiles of nuclear weapons. The Nunn-Lugar CTR program also eliminated thousands of nuclear warheads and delivery systems in Russia, greatly reducing the amount of WMD on the planet.

Today, our partnering programs can be found across the planet. The Cooperative Biological Engagement Program helps African countries control and keep track of naturally occurring biological hazards that kill thousands.

Our CBRNE (chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and high yield explosives) Preparedness Program provides training and equipment to countries that may not have all of our resources, but still face the same WMD problems. And we also partner with federal agencies, states and local governments within the United States to share best practices on dealing with WMD, because when a crisis hits, the people closest to danger will be the first ones that have to deal with it.

We partner with countries that have been our allies for centuries, and we partner with countries that have recently opened their doors to the United States. We partner with any country that wants to reduce and eliminate weapons of mass destruction, or be prepared for a crisis involving WMD, because you can never have too many partners when your mission is Making the World Safer.