US national perspectives on cooperation in disarmament: The cooperative threat reduction program

The Nunn-Lugar initiative in 1991, which established the Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) Program, was a direct response to the political and economic uncertainties associated with the dissolution of the former Soviet Union that called into question the ability of the New Independent States (NIS) to provide for the safe and secure transportation, storage and eventual reduction or complete elimination of nuclear, and other weapons of mass destruction. The CTR Program seizes an unprecedented opportunity to reduce this threat. Through the provision of assistance in the form of equipment, technical expertise, training, logistical support, and industrial partnerships, the CTR Program strives to achieve objectives that foster the national security interests of the United States. The CTR Program has made a significant contribution to eligible states of the former Soviet Union in order to dismantle weapons of mass destruction, to reduce the threat of proliferation, and to demilitarize their societies.