On this day eight decades ago, the U.S. first employed our nuclear power. On Aug. 6, 1945, the U.S. dropped a nuclear weapon on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, killing at least 70,000 Japanese. Three days later, we dropped another—this time, on Nagasaki, killing another 40,000 and bringing a definitive end to World War II.

80 years later, the horror of these weapons remains undeniable. Yet another truth remains: nuclear weapons are not going away.

To understand this, we have only to look at any of our adversaries.

Russia maintains the world’s largest nuclear arsenal, with its non-strategic nuclear arsenal outnumbering that of the U.S. ten to one.

As the fastest growing nuclear power on the planet, China is working to reach quantitative parity with the U.S. and potentially seeks to launch nuclear weapons into orbit.

And North Korea remains an unpredictable rogue state whose missile tests are increasingly successful and whose nuclear arsenal continues to expand.

But beyond the current state of our enemies’ nuclear arsenals lies an even greater problem. They are not, even in the most remote sense, interested in discussing disarmament. And this is not for lack of trying by the U.S.

In 2010, President Obama and Russian President Medvedev signed the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START), which limited quantity of strategic offensive arms. Yet this treaty does not limit a state’s tactical nuclear arsenal—thus leaving Russia free to embark on modernization of its non-strategic forces.

In President Trump’s first term, he consistently urged North Korea to end their nuclear program. But when Kim Jong Un eventually agreed to talk with Trump in 2018, he leveraged diplomatic stalling tactics for nearly a year before abandoning any plans for denuclearization and walking away from further talks with the U.S.

Meanwhile, Russia continued to exploit loopholes in New START to increase its capabilities beyond treaty limits, and China refused to engage in any type of arms control or threat reduction talks.

Then, despite efforts from the Biden administration to engage in further arms control discussions, Russia suspended its compliance to the New START treaty in 2023. And in Jan. 2025, Russia publicly dismissed U.S. proposals for additional nuclear talks as “deceptive.”

As recently as February, Trump voiced interest in denuclearization talks with both Russia and China. Still, our adversaries show little interest in coming to the table.

For the arms control community to suggest the complete and total nuclear disarmament of the United States is no different than to suggest we roll over and let autocracy win. Doing so would not only be insensible but be at the expense of our nation.

Over the last 15 years, every president has tried to engage in nuclear nonproliferation talks with Russia, China, and even North Korea. And every time, our enemies lie, cheat, or refuse to even have a preliminary discussion.

This brings us to the trouble of U.S. disarmament—a notion that is entirely antithetical to American interest.

So long as our adversaries have and continue to build weapons of mass destruction, the U.S. has no option but to build an arsenal that can deter them: an arsenal that provides an American president with various options and one that can, if necessary, defeat our adversaries should they choose to pursue nuclear escalation.

The arms control community must come to terms with this and with the nuclear realities that once defined 1945 and now define 2025.

80 years ago, the U.S. faced projections of staggering casualties of up to 1 million in a conventional invasion of Japan. American leaders concluded that only the atomic bomb could force a decisive end to the war.

And today, the U.S. confronts Russia, China, and North Korea, all of whom refuse nonproliferation and pose a credible threat of nuclear attack against the U.S. and its allies.

None of this negates the devastation caused by the American use of atomic weapons eight decades ago, and no one wants to have to make the same choice we did in 1945. But until our enemies are ready to engage in real arms control discussions, the U.S. must not disarm.

We cannot weaken our defenses simply to appease the international arms control community. Instead, we must ensure that the U.S. remains a nation that no adversary would dare test. Only then can we ensure American security.

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