ABSTRACT
A necessary condition—but not a sufficient condition—for sustainable zero nuclear weapon (ZNW) is that there be widespread, systematic, and shared thought and conversation about ZNW, getting there and staying there. Denuclearization is a goal, and both the transition to ZNW and subsequent ZNW maintenance must be well-conceived in advance. Achieving ZNW will require coordinating action in a number of distinct states and organizations, instituting new tasks, and even creating novel institutions. Denuclearization design, as a decentralized initiative, would reflect the different foci and activities of sponsors. Institutions would fund denuclearization design projects exactly as they fund existing work: from their customary sources, including public and private donors. No doubt some governments will prefer, especially at the outset, to study denuclearization in secret. Governments sharpen policy, and look over the horizon of time to opportunities and challenges that may arise in the future, exercising their special mandate to provide security to their people, and their economic concerns.
